[6:56] It's 5. Oops. It is 5 o'clock and we are
[6:59] going to call the meeting to order with
[7:02] first a roll call.
[7:05] Paula Whitford
[7:06] >> here.
[7:06] >> Michelle Brusso
[7:08] >> here.
[7:09] >> Kate Masinati
[7:10] >> here.
[7:11] >> James Dustivo
[7:12] >> here.
[7:12] >> And I Carol Veter I mean here.
[7:16] This the school committee committee may
[7:19] speak to recess to executive session for
[7:21] discussion and or action regarding those
[7:23] items of business exempt from open
[7:26] meetings under general uh Rhode Island
[7:28] general law 42464
[7:30] and a discussion action personnel job
[7:33] performance interim chief financial
[7:35] officer contract Rhode Island general
[7:37] law 42465A1
[7:40] and B discussion action personnel job
[7:44] performance superintendent out annual
[7:46] UAL evaluation Rhode Island General Law
[7:49] 42465A1
[7:51] individuals have been notified including
[7:53] the right to have any discussion held in
[7:55] open session.
[7:57] >> I'll make a motion to resess to
[7:59] executive session.
[8:00] >> Second.
[8:01] >> All those in favor?
[8:02] >> I. Motion passes.
[1:08:41] Good evening.
[1:08:43] We're going to call the open session of
[1:08:45] the meeting to order at 6:02.
[1:08:50] We're going to start with a roll call.
[1:08:55] » Paula Whitford
[1:08:57] >> here.
[1:08:58] >> Michelle Brusso
[1:09:00] >> here.
[1:09:00] >> Kate Masinady
[1:09:01] >> here.
[1:09:02] >> James Divo
[1:09:03] >> here. and I Carol better am here.
[1:09:07] Please join me in the pledge of
[1:09:08] allegiance.
[1:09:32] Do I have a motion to seal the minutes
[1:09:33] of the executive session?
[1:09:35] >> I'll make a motion to seal the minutes
[1:09:36] of the executive session.
[1:09:39] >> All those in favor?
[1:09:40] >> I.
[1:09:40] >> That motion carries. There were no votes
[1:09:43] taken in executive session. Next up,
[1:09:45] comments from the community.
[1:09:49] » Nothing.
[1:09:52] All right. Does anybody want to come to
[1:09:53] the podium? Anybody?
[1:09:58] All right. Seeing none, we will close
[1:10:00] public comment.
[1:10:04] That will bring us to the consent
[1:10:05] agenda.
[1:10:07] >> I'll make a motion to approve the
[1:10:09] consent agenda.
[1:10:11] >> All those in favor?
[1:10:13] >> I.
[1:10:14] >> That motion passes.
[1:10:16] All right. Now we have the
[1:10:17] superintendent report. I'll turn it over
[1:10:20] to the superintendent.
[1:10:22] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening,
[1:10:23] everyone. Um
[1:10:30] sent posted.
[1:10:40] So we have uh three items on the
[1:10:43] personnel report or excuse me on the
[1:10:45] superintendent report report. The first
[1:10:47] is the personnel report which
[1:10:48] isformational information only. uh would
[1:10:51] like to formally welcome our new
[1:10:53] faculty, staff, and administration. Uh
[1:10:56] as well as uh just let the committee
[1:10:59] know about the most recent memo uh that
[1:11:02] was received by the district uh that
[1:11:04] will affect FY27 moving and uh moving
[1:11:08] forward uh and that is the CTE tuition
[1:11:11] calculation and the guidance that RIDE
[1:11:13] is being given. Next slide, please.
[1:11:17] So we have a uh slew of personnel
[1:11:21] actions uh lots of hiring uh going on.
[1:11:25] Our principles, HR, um interview
[1:11:29] committees have done a fantastic job uh
[1:11:32] bringing in people to the district.
[1:11:34] Additionally, uh we've had some folks uh
[1:11:36] who have let us know about a leave of
[1:11:38] absence or who have also let us know uh
[1:11:40] about an upcoming retirement that is
[1:11:43] occurring in this school year. um and
[1:11:46] which is while we don't like to see them
[1:11:49] go, it uh is appreciated when we have
[1:11:51] that so we can get it uh get coverage in
[1:11:54] advance or start planning for that uh
[1:11:56] months in advance. So um
[1:12:00] next slide.
[1:12:04] So this was as of uh last week. So to
[1:12:08] put some names with some of those
[1:12:10] positions that uh have that are joining
[1:12:13] us this coming school year and in many
[1:12:16] cases beyond. Uh we welcome Greg
[1:12:18] Shereest. We welcome Jennifer Sappy,
[1:12:21] Alyssa Edsanti, Emily Raymond Griffin,
[1:12:24] Jonathan Kenny, Alen Texera, Sarah
[1:12:27] Ellie, Benjamin Hamill, Cody Pod
[1:12:30] Podaworni, Jennifer Gilbert, Monica
[1:12:32] Andrews, and Elias Benson. uh those are
[1:12:35] just uh those members who are joining
[1:12:38] our uh our NEASK uh bargaining units. So
[1:12:44] uh we welcome them to the district. Uh
[1:12:47] actually new teacher orientation will be
[1:12:49] actually this Friday here uh in the
[1:12:52] South Kingtown High School library. Uh
[1:12:54] and then with orientation uh next
[1:12:57] Monday. Next slide.
[1:13:01] I'd also like to welcome for from SKSP
[1:13:04] we have Danielle Harris, Jessica Dh
[1:13:07] Duca, uh Lindseay Monteneeri, Andrea
[1:13:11] Dion, and also uh welcome to their newer
[1:13:15] roles even though these folks have been
[1:13:17] with us. uh Gina Habberlin as principal
[1:13:19] of Broad Rock Middle School, AJ Sherman
[1:13:22] welcoming back as athletic director,
[1:13:24] Brandon Pierce as assistant principal
[1:13:26] here at the high school, Mary Serber uh
[1:13:28] who served last year uh as an interim
[1:13:31] basis as our preschool coordinator, uh
[1:13:33] Corey Lennon uh most recently uh as the
[1:13:36] appointed Broadck uh middle school
[1:13:38] assistant principal. Uh and I left off
[1:13:41] here because he was actually appointed
[1:13:43] pretty early on at the end of last
[1:13:45] school year. U but Mr. Joe Adams also
[1:13:47] I'd like to to welcome to the district
[1:13:49] and welcome uh to those folks the vast
[1:13:52] majority of whom in terms of
[1:13:54] administration um are depending on who
[1:13:57] you ask moving up or moving down through
[1:13:59] the ranks to join the administration. Um
[1:14:02] so we welcome them and look forward to
[1:14:04] supporting them uh everyone this
[1:14:06] upcoming school year. Next slide please.
[1:14:11] So on the new ride guidance um
[1:14:15] previously this now this applies just to
[1:14:18] CTE.
[1:14:20] Um,
[1:14:22] previously Ry
[1:14:24] stated that
[1:14:26] for CTE calculations, each district gave
[1:14:30] over their per pupil
[1:14:33] rate and in some cases depending on the
[1:14:36] students if they uh were from if they
[1:14:40] were student in poverty or experiencing
[1:14:43] poverty there was a bump up on that
[1:14:46] calculation. Um, but they basically
[1:14:49] would give us a chart based off of what
[1:14:52] we spent locally and as the saying used
[1:14:57] to be known as the money follows then
[1:14:59] the child.
[1:15:01] However, um this is being challenged. Um
[1:15:06] Warwick public schools has asked Ry for
[1:15:10] a uh a judgment about uh not only this
[1:15:15] upcoming school year but previous school
[1:15:17] years. Um and it is because of that uh
[1:15:21] decision which is also being appealed at
[1:15:23] this time that RIDE has given guidance
[1:15:26] um for this upcoming school year that
[1:15:29] differs significantly from previous
[1:15:32] years. Um, and I put that in quotes. So
[1:15:36] ultimately, I won't read it to you, um,
[1:15:39] but essentially when it used to be a
[1:15:41] flat rate that would go over there or on
[1:15:42] a a quarterly basis, now it is the
[1:15:46] average of both the sending and
[1:15:50] receiving district.
[1:15:52] It is based off of a formula that ride
[1:15:56] now calculates that is different than
[1:15:58] what it previously calculated in that it
[1:16:01] takes out the tu it doesn't calculate
[1:16:04] the the tuition coming into the
[1:16:06] district. It removes that. Additionally,
[1:16:09] it does not take into account uh student
[1:16:12] demographics
[1:16:14] uh factors such as again students
[1:16:17] experiencing poverty. So the potential,
[1:16:21] you know, I uh the potential for this
[1:16:24] depending on where our students go to
[1:16:28] CTE as well as our students who are
[1:16:30] coming to us from CTE. So not only on
[1:16:33] the expense side, I'm highlighting the
[1:16:34] expense because currently our expense
[1:16:37] far outweighs our revenue for CTE
[1:16:39] currently. However, uh that it's going
[1:16:43] to affect that as well. So next slide,
[1:16:45] please.
[1:16:48] So, I did link every uh district's CTE
[1:16:52] rate as promulgated by RIDE. South
[1:16:54] Kingtown's next year is 27,260.
[1:17:00] If we were to just take that in previous
[1:17:02] years, well, that would have been the
[1:17:03] publish late rate that followed a child
[1:17:06] wherever they went.
[1:17:08] However, when we now start averaging,
[1:17:11] Naragansit's per pupil rate as uh
[1:17:16] promulgated by ride is 34,352.
[1:17:22] So, we then have to take the 45 students
[1:17:26] that as of the 19th were slated to go to
[1:17:30] Naragansit.
[1:17:31] Again, previously that would be
[1:17:33] approximately $1.2 million. the new
[1:17:37] because we're now averaging there's
[1:17:39] approximately oh there's over a $3,000
[1:17:43] bump and so we are looking at again a
[1:17:46] difference of $159,000
[1:17:49] 570
[1:17:50] for cheroo that is our next largest CTE
[1:17:53] expense again here because the average
[1:17:57] is lower pre this the formula works in
[1:18:00] our benefit rather than just
[1:18:02] distributing the 27260
[1:18:04] previously it now breaks down to the new
[1:18:08] of being 255 and again uh I put North
[1:18:12] Kingtown and Cranston. So there are some
[1:18:14] circumstances where we benefit uh from
[1:18:17] this formula. Uh however uh due to the
[1:18:21] per pupil of Naragansit and the sheer
[1:18:23] number of students that we currently
[1:18:25] send there um we do not break even
[1:18:28] currently if this were to to go through.
[1:18:32] >> Can I ask a couple questions please? Um,
[1:18:36] so this formula is I know Warwick was
[1:18:41] actually looking to recoup money from
[1:18:43] prior years. Is there is this only going
[1:18:46] forward or is there any
[1:18:47] >> this is only RID's guidance for this
[1:18:49] school year moving forward how they
[1:18:52] expect every district in the state to
[1:18:54] now calculate their CTE tuition rates
[1:18:58] going back? That is still under appeal.
[1:19:00] >> Okay. Um do we know how many students
[1:19:04] yet are enrolling in the these other
[1:19:07] high schools for the coming year? Do you
[1:19:10] have an idea?
[1:19:10] >> Um so those uh those students that are
[1:19:13] listed there are as of last week. So I
[1:19:16] I've downloaded that data. So that is
[1:19:18] our current um as of last week the
[1:19:21] number of students who are enrolled in
[1:19:22] out of district CTE. I don't have the
[1:19:25] number that are coming that are
[1:19:26] guaranteed coming into us yet. Do we
[1:19:29] know if these those numbers are going up
[1:19:30] or down?
[1:19:32] >> I I did not do a comparison versus last
[1:19:34] year that
[1:19:35] >> Could you Could you get that to us
[1:19:37] because that's I really want to know. I
[1:19:40] mean it we're all hopeful that we're
[1:19:42] stemming the tide. So I just really
[1:19:44] would like to see that.
[1:19:45] >> Absolutely. Thank you.
[1:19:47] >> Absolutely. Is this does this account
[1:19:49] for all students going to other
[1:19:51] districts or these are just for
[1:19:52] examples? um as of right now this so
[1:19:55] this the only other uh would be charter
[1:19:59] schools that again aren't under this
[1:20:02] formula
[1:20:08] » miss better thank you for your question
[1:20:10] that clarified one question that I had
[1:20:13] um however I I would like to know if any
[1:20:18] of these students
[1:20:21] um
[1:20:23] uh experiencing
[1:20:25] homelessness and how would that impact
[1:20:29] the
[1:20:32] program?
[1:20:33] >> So, in terms of if a student were
[1:20:36] experiencing homelessness, um in terms
[1:20:39] of the funding formula that RIDE is
[1:20:42] using, there is no bump up or bump down.
[1:20:44] The their ability to stay in this
[1:20:47] program would fall under McKenna Vento.
[1:20:51] um that few few months ago that we
[1:20:54] updated that policy uh extensively. So,
[1:20:57] uh, if a student were, uh, a South
[1:21:00] Kingtown student experiencing
[1:21:02] homelessness and going to a CTE, um,
[1:21:06] assuming that the best interest
[1:21:07] determination is to stay in these, uh,
[1:21:10] school of origin, even though we are the
[1:21:12] school of origin and they were attending
[1:21:14] a CTE, that would we would continue to
[1:21:18] uh, incur that tuition cost.
[1:21:22] You're welcome.
[1:21:24] >> So, you said this is being um healed. Is
[1:21:29] that correct?
[1:21:30] >> The formal Yes. The formal the final
[1:21:33] rule the ruling that the commissioner
[1:21:35] came out with because what they what
[1:21:37] ride did and I will ask um in a future
[1:21:41] meeting for attorney SOA to come on in
[1:21:43] who can speak to it uh more eloquently
[1:21:45] as well as we're paying him to represent
[1:21:47] us. Um my understanding is is that uh in
[1:21:52] RID's ruling they were asking everybody
[1:21:55] to ple let's just move forward.
[1:21:57] Everybody w everybody was doing this
[1:21:59] formula wrong. So there was one portion
[1:22:01] of the law that said do it this way. And
[1:22:04] actually you have some districts that
[1:22:06] got together made regional agreements
[1:22:09] and based on this ruling it was no you
[1:22:12] can't do that. And hey guys we're all in
[1:22:15] this together. We're all making the same
[1:22:17] mistakes moving forward. We're going to
[1:22:19] use this portion of the law and ride
[1:22:22] will promulgate this and this is how
[1:22:24] we're going to do it based on that
[1:22:26] section of the law. That piece is being
[1:22:28] appealed. So in terms of the the
[1:22:32] look back and the potential fiscal
[1:22:35] impact of that appeal, uh I can't say
[1:22:37] right now.
[1:22:41] It just strikes me as a it strikes me
[1:22:44] like initially, yeah, if we were if we
[1:22:46] were navigating only three of these four
[1:22:48] districts like, oh wow, this is this is
[1:22:50] good for us, but it's clearly not. Um
[1:22:54] with a with a higher cost
[1:22:57] uh district that we that we are sending
[1:22:59] to. Um, it just strikes me that the
[1:23:04] sending school district is fiscally
[1:23:08] penalized for sending a student to a
[1:23:13] lower enrollment school district because
[1:23:16] by having lower enrollment, the per
[1:23:18] pupil expenditure is increased. So, um,
[1:23:22] it's easy for me to just sit here and
[1:23:23] say that's not fair, but it doesn't feel
[1:23:25] fair.
[1:23:26] >> Yes.
[1:23:28] >> I just want to say that out loud. Not
[1:23:29] that we need to do anything about it,
[1:23:31] but I'm just saying that it's like it's it's
[1:23:35] um be it's like we're being again we're
[1:23:37] being penalized because one of the our receiving districts um have low
[1:23:43] lower enrollment and so it just seems
[1:23:45] like an odd calculation.
[1:23:47] >> I mean I think this speaks to broader
[1:23:50] needs around the funding formula
[1:23:51] changing and and how how we fund
[1:23:53] education in the state from the from
[1:23:55] this from the top level down. Um, and I think it's, you know, important as as
[1:24:00] committee to continue to have those
[1:24:02] conversations, continue to maybe even
[1:24:04] look at resolutions that could help move
[1:24:06] the need at the state house. Um, so I
[1:24:08] think things to come into the future to
[1:24:10] talk about, but as far as this goes, I
[1:24:12] agree with you. It's not really fair
[1:24:15] given this breakdown. Um, it is
[1:24:17] unfortunate.
[1:24:20] Um, I think
[1:24:23] um I I agree with what Miss Massing and
[1:24:27] Mr. Steo said about like, yeah, it's
[1:24:30] going to cost us $60,000 more. Um, but
[1:24:35] if you recall, and I am not going to be
[1:24:39] able to pull these numbers off the top
[1:24:41] of my head, my brain is not that good.
[1:24:46] But when I went to the Rhode Island
[1:24:48] Association of School Committees annual
[1:24:50] meeting, we had that um presenter from
[1:24:57] um can't remember who she represented,
[1:25:01] but they worked together with the Rhode
[1:25:03] Island Foundation and um did some moving
[1:25:08] around of the funding formula
[1:25:12] um whereby they were
[1:25:15] going to begin to include
[1:25:18] transportation. And they were calling it
[1:25:23] um
[1:25:25] not
[1:25:27] they they changed the wording of what
[1:25:29] they were calling it so that
[1:25:32] transportation became an integral part
[1:25:34] of educating a child.
[1:25:37] And the ultimate goal was to get
[1:25:42] um like a flat percentage across the
[1:25:47] state.
[1:25:50] Um
[1:25:52] and the the city or town, the
[1:25:55] municipality would pay a certain
[1:25:57] percentage and the state would pay
[1:26:00] another percentage and that would be the
[1:26:04] you know the same across the state. So
[1:26:07] we would get that same percentage as
[1:26:10] narrow dancer. Um
[1:26:13] and what I have heard
[1:26:16] um is that the general assembly is
[1:26:18] looking at this and thinking in terms of
[1:26:23] phasing that in but they are definitely
[1:26:26] looking at that seriously. Now is that
[1:26:28] going to help us next year with this
[1:26:30] extra $67,000?
[1:26:32] No. And Mr. for jobs told me that the
[1:26:35] money tree didn't grow any money because
[1:26:37] they're coming from the back of the
[1:26:39] admin. So, I mean, that's at least
[1:26:42] something we we can look forward to
[1:26:45] things um getting a little better.
[1:26:53] » It highlights the other goal of um
[1:26:56] keeping our students.
[1:26:58] So instead of having 45 students choose
[1:27:00] to go here and 19 students choose to go
[1:27:03] there, we would have them stay here. So
[1:27:14] » did did you have anything else?
[1:27:15] >> Nope. just once again that this is
[1:27:17] something that we will be navigating
[1:27:19] both in terms of moving forward the ride
[1:27:22] rulings as well as as we get into FY27
[1:27:26] and talk about both revenue, expenses,
[1:27:28] enrollment. This is going to be an
[1:27:30] ongoing uh conversation and some
[1:27:33] significantly different calculations
[1:27:35] than we're used to in the past.
[1:27:38] >> I do like your suggestion of bringing
[1:27:41] Mr. SOA in. I just wanted I'm a little
[1:27:43] concerned about the exposure if they go
[1:27:47] back in time because in prior years we
[1:27:50] sent even more children to narance it.
[1:27:53] So there could be exposure there. So I
[1:27:56] think that is a good idea to talk to Mr.
[1:27:59] SOA and just maybe see where thing what
[1:28:02] maybe he feels like the outcome might
[1:28:03] be. So anyway um thank you for
[1:28:06] explaining that.
[1:28:07] >> Thank you.
[1:28:09] Do I have a motion to accept the
[1:28:10] superintendent report?
[1:28:13] >> I make a motion to accept the
[1:28:16] superintendent report as presented.
[1:28:19] >> Second.
[1:28:19] >> All those in favor? I
[1:28:21] >> That motion passes.
[1:28:24] That will bring us to school committee
[1:28:26] business a discussion action approval of
[1:28:29] interim chief financial officer
[1:28:31] contract.
[1:28:35] We have a motion to accept the contract
[1:28:36] as presented by the superintendent.
[1:28:38] >> I'll make a motion to approve the
[1:28:40] interim chief financial officer contract
[1:28:42] as presented uh by the superintendent.
[1:28:44] >> Second.
[1:28:45] >> All those in favor?
[1:28:47] >> I.
[1:28:48] >> That motion passes.
[1:28:51] We want to welcome Mr. Tony Fucci as our
[1:28:54] interim which will lead us uh right into
[1:28:57] our next one. B discussion action fiscal
[1:29:00] year 2027 recommended plan to meet state
[1:29:04] financial reporting requirements.
[1:29:07] >> Welcome back.
[1:29:11] >> It's like a revolving door around here.
[1:29:15] >> Hopefully not. Um good evening, Madam
[1:29:18] Chair, members of the committee. Mr.
[1:29:20] Superintendent, um I'm I'm proud to
[1:29:22] become a temporary member of the
[1:29:25] community. Um I think you've come
[1:29:28] strides ahead from where we first
[1:29:31] started a couple of years back. Um so
[1:29:33] while we have a slight setback in
[1:29:35] personnel um I think we've got an
[1:29:37] opportunity to engage and reset the
[1:29:39] district for further gains. So I'm very
[1:29:41] excited about however I can assist uh
[1:29:43] with that process. So thank you for not
[1:29:45] confidence in that. Thank you. Um I do
[1:29:49] have a number of items this evening for
[1:29:50] you. I'll try and get through relatively
[1:29:53] quickly and happy to answer any
[1:29:54] questions. First up is the uh the state
[1:29:58] has issued um further clarity and most
[1:30:02] importantly
[1:30:04] um the requirement of communities to
[1:30:08] report consistently on a monthly basis
[1:30:10] and these regs that have been in place
[1:30:12] for a number of years now but it's been
[1:30:14] kind of more along the lines of how
[1:30:16] communities have communicated with the
[1:30:18] public. So, they're looking for more
[1:30:20] consistency. And so, um, with my
[1:30:23] arrival, I was introduced to a letter
[1:30:25] that was dated August 5th, 2026
[1:30:29] from the auditor general's office
[1:30:31] highlighting, um, the necessity to start
[1:30:34] reporting in a standardized basis on a
[1:30:36] monthly basis. And so, we've been in
[1:30:38] meetings with the town and they've
[1:30:40] making some modifications to accommodate
[1:30:43] all the requirements that are
[1:30:44] articulated in your document. Um, we're
[1:30:48] aligning ourselves with the town and
[1:30:51] what I have before you this evening is a
[1:30:53] recommendation that we've got a temp
[1:30:55] particular template that will show those
[1:30:59] um operations for the school, the
[1:31:01] general fund, the capital fund, and a
[1:31:03] school lunch fund in particular. And
[1:31:06] what we should be doing is looking at
[1:31:07] those monthly on a year-to- date budget
[1:31:10] versus year-to- date actual. and then
[1:31:12] any comments coming from administration
[1:31:15] as to anything that they're aware of
[1:31:17] that is potentially impacting the
[1:31:19] budget. And so that's the highlight of
[1:31:22] what they're trying to uh propose. If
[1:31:26] districts get into a position where
[1:31:28] they're projecting the possibility of
[1:31:30] incurring deficits, uh the state does
[1:31:33] require an action plan to be submitted
[1:31:35] as to what the district is attempting to
[1:31:37] do. And that also applicable at the
[1:31:39] municipal level, but I'll say targeted
[1:31:40] on the impact of the schools. So the
[1:31:44] simplicity of what we're doing this
[1:31:46] evening is the next report, which is
[1:31:48] your monthly financial statement for
[1:31:51] FY27. Now that we're almost two months
[1:31:54] into the school year from a financial
[1:31:56] perspective because it starts July 1st,
[1:31:58] there's a new cover letter that will be
[1:32:01] produced by the CFO myself until a new
[1:32:04] person is appointed and it's broken down
[1:32:06] with the the categorizations that I just
[1:32:08] mentioned. And so that will become the
[1:32:10] template I believe that you should
[1:32:12] sustain. Most importantly, it's the
[1:32:16] requirement of maintaining the comments
[1:32:20] on the three issues of general fund
[1:32:24] budget, your capital fund budget and
[1:32:26] your operational budget for the school
[1:32:29] lunch because the school lunch if it
[1:32:31] operates in deficit of course the the
[1:32:33] fund balance of the general fund would
[1:32:35] also be applied to cover that that
[1:32:37] operation. So that's why those three are
[1:32:40] to be highlighted in spotlight. There's
[1:32:42] some internal workings that have to take
[1:32:44] place to do it on a regular basis. Um,
[1:32:46] as you'll notice, some of the budgets
[1:32:47] are not in um with regards to either the
[1:32:51] capital fund or the school lunch fund.
[1:32:53] Those will be caught off. But by having
[1:32:54] a template in place and expectation in
[1:32:57] place, then the compliance will follow.
[1:33:00] So we've been very clear with the town
[1:33:03] that the school committee will receive
[1:33:05] these documents first and that way there
[1:33:08] you can go through the details and
[1:33:10] answer any questions etc. And at the
[1:33:13] conclusion of your meetings and the
[1:33:14] reports are accepted we would then send
[1:33:17] over a copy of that report to the town
[1:33:20] and that would be effective tomorrow. Um
[1:33:23] and in turn they're required to post all
[1:33:25] the town municipal reports for the
[1:33:27] public for those folks to be able to
[1:33:29] reference these reports on an as on an
[1:33:31] ongoing basis going forward. And so your
[1:33:34] reads wherever we're storing them now
[1:33:36] for public access could be sustained.
[1:33:39] But clearly the community will say we've
[1:33:41] got them all. We've got the schools and
[1:33:42] we've got the municipal budgets etc. um
[1:33:45] and they comply with state law so that
[1:33:47] they can be um compared and referenced
[1:33:50] by the community down the road. Um there
[1:33:53] are two or three other benchmarks with
[1:33:55] regards to um annual budgets. Those two
[1:33:58] would be then released on on the routine
[1:34:01] basis and also a five-year projection. I
[1:34:03] know we've been doing those types of
[1:34:05] work, but this just codifies that it
[1:34:07] will come before the school committee
[1:34:08] before it's released for public
[1:34:10] presentation through the town council, I
[1:34:13] mean a town uh fiscal office uh process
[1:34:15] they have in place. And I understand
[1:34:18] that the finance director for the town
[1:34:20] will be presenting something similar to
[1:34:22] the town council um soon and so
[1:34:26] everybody should be on board about
[1:34:27] having these documents uh readily
[1:34:29] available and um my office if I ask
[1:34:32] questions about the public documents as
[1:34:34] long as it's already been vetted by the
[1:34:36] school committee we you would know what
[1:34:38] would be the answers we would be driving
[1:34:40] based on the documents that you have in
[1:34:42] front of you and if something is missing
[1:34:44] in your comments in the future I think
[1:34:46] it behooves to make sure those kinds of
[1:34:48] items get identified early in the
[1:34:50] process and you have a format in which
[1:34:53] that communication can take place and
[1:34:54] just make sure those items come before
[1:34:57] you on a regular basis. So it's a check
[1:34:59] and balance for the system. So happy to
[1:35:02] answer any questions um with regards to
[1:35:05] our roll out.
[1:35:07] So in regard to the templates,
[1:35:11] um is this something each town is
[1:35:14] developing their own template or is
[1:35:16] there guide from the state?
[1:35:18] >> This the town's basically the actual
[1:35:21] format of the template that we have is
[1:35:22] what the town is working on. And when I
[1:35:25] reviewed how they were setting theirs
[1:35:27] up, I just align what we're doing,
[1:35:29] what's operationally is um consistent
[1:35:32] for what they're viewing. And you'll
[1:35:34] notice that there is a subsection for
[1:35:36] our grants. Um, and that will be just in
[1:35:38] totality because we all know grants
[1:35:40] can't go over, they can't be overspent,
[1:35:42] etc. Um, they're pretty tightly uh
[1:35:45] managed. Um, so that's really should not
[1:35:48] present a deficit style issue like your
[1:35:52] operating budgets will potentially do.
[1:35:55] So that's why the separation from our
[1:35:57] perspective and what we're going to keep
[1:35:58] our eye on. We want to acknowledge those
[1:36:00] resources. If each town is developing
[1:36:02] their own way of reporting, it still may
[1:36:07] lead to not being able to directly
[1:36:09] compare with other school districts. So,
[1:36:11] it doesn't really shore up that
[1:36:14] >> that may be the next part to see how
[1:36:16] much they actually deviate, if they
[1:36:18] actually do deviate or if everybody is
[1:36:20] going to this style model of um what
[1:36:24] types of funds are being highlighted um
[1:36:26] across the state.
[1:36:28] >> All right, great. Thanks. Other
[1:36:30] questions?
[1:36:32] an interesting question. Um because and
[1:36:36] to piggyback on that, the three
[1:36:38] categories that making up the template
[1:36:41] is that those are the three categories
[1:36:43] dictated by the state or is that what
[1:36:46] the town is requesting?
[1:36:49] the about my my read of the information
[1:36:52] that you have in front of you is the
[1:36:55] identification of those funds that may
[1:36:59] potentially generate deficits and so
[1:37:01] that you're on top of those. So the
[1:37:04] definition of that type of fund is what
[1:37:06] I personally and professionally brought
[1:37:08] forward for your consideration. they're
[1:37:10] the only three major funds that have
[1:37:11] that opportunity that if there's a big
[1:37:14] expenditure and you have to do it or
[1:37:16] revenue is off significantly, it could
[1:37:18] structurally undermine your um financial
[1:37:22] position in the in the community. So
[1:37:24] that's why I'm recommending those three
[1:37:26] particular targets to be on your table.
[1:37:29] >> And these uh reports are being generated
[1:37:31] monthly. Um, I know and I may be um like
[1:37:37] totally off base with my question here.
[1:37:40] Um, or you can say that's not relevant
[1:37:42] if if that's the case. But so I know
[1:37:44] monthto-month
[1:37:46] um there we have often had conversations
[1:37:48] around certain expenditures that are
[1:37:51] embargoed um or we don't have that
[1:37:54] information yet. Um we'll know at the
[1:37:56] end of you know June 31st or whatever it
[1:37:59] is. um will that be clear in the report
[1:38:03] or is that not a factor?
[1:38:06] >> I think the month-to-month
[1:38:08] um is an opportunity to hear things
[1:38:11] targeted. Um as a side recommendation
[1:38:15] from my personal experience in the
[1:38:17] districts I I was involved with and I've
[1:38:19] been speaking the superintendent about
[1:38:20] it and maybe a presentation in the
[1:38:22] future with regard to this item. Um, but
[1:38:26] I always made it a practice in the
[1:38:27] districts that I served was to actually
[1:38:30] have a yearend rejection prepared
[1:38:35] specifically for the month of November
[1:38:37] and again for the month of February. And
[1:38:40] what that would in fact be is a uh
[1:38:44] indepth analysis of expenses. And the
[1:38:48] target of November and February
[1:38:51] is along the lines of when school opens
[1:38:54] and you have too many students and you
[1:38:57] need a kindergarten teacher, you have to
[1:38:58] hire the teacher. There's no getting
[1:39:00] around it and that always creates
[1:39:02] anxiety. And who retires in August that
[1:39:05] we didn't know about and what do we got
[1:39:07] to hire and did if we had retirements
[1:39:09] and we planned on they'd be hiring
[1:39:11] teachers at second step did that
[1:39:12] actually take place all those kinds of
[1:39:14] things which have dramatic impact on
[1:39:15] budgets. I was a firm believer that for
[1:39:19] the most part the operational expenses
[1:39:21] should be relatively
[1:39:23] aligned with budget if you do your
[1:39:25] budget properly going into your each
[1:39:28] year but your staffing is the the b
[1:39:31] biggest significant expense. So give us
[1:39:34] a report that says from July 1st through
[1:39:37] October 1st how much did you actually
[1:39:39] spend in staff expenses
[1:39:42] in the middle of October or early
[1:39:44] November. Now that the staff has settled
[1:39:46] down, your teachers are in, your
[1:39:48] administration is in, etc., and you've
[1:39:51] got 22 payrolls between now and the end
[1:39:54] of the school year, use physical
[1:39:56] evidence times numbers of people in that
[1:40:00] times the dollars paid on a typical
[1:40:02] salary. Come up with what those expenses
[1:40:05] will be added to each line in your
[1:40:07] budget. It's an in-depth analysis, but
[1:40:10] it's real. You really then at that point
[1:40:13] in November may have one or two openings
[1:40:15] or you may know somebody's retiring in
[1:40:18] December and you can make minor slight
[1:40:20] adjustments but it's not going to be the
[1:40:22] magnitude of over hundreds of thousands.
[1:40:24] It'll be 20,000 here, 50,000 there, but
[1:40:26] you tweak it and I used to stand my
[1:40:29] reputation on how accurate we were in
[1:40:33] November and then again in February.
[1:40:36] That provides you two things. one,
[1:40:39] you're on target and maintaining a
[1:40:41] balanced budget. Two, if you have an
[1:40:44] issue, you've got time in front of you
[1:40:45] to make necessary adjustments so that
[1:40:47] you can come in on budget. And three, it
[1:40:51] answers the question, what's our
[1:40:52] financial position as you go into the
[1:40:55] discussion of next year's budget? and not knowing those elements I think
[1:41:01] sets up well if we're not sure and we're
[1:41:03] not sure it just it undermines the
[1:41:06] credibility of what you need when it
[1:41:08] comes time to talk about next year. So I
[1:41:11] highly be happy to create a
[1:41:14] recommendation documenting this if
[1:41:16] community thinks it's worthwhile
[1:41:17] considering um for another time and
[1:41:20] place.
[1:41:20] it kind it will definitely align with um
[1:41:24] what we're currently doing and once you
[1:41:26] receive that I would say release that
[1:41:29] publicly. This this is something where
[1:41:30] you're building credibility by doing
[1:41:32] this process. And in the $90 million a
[1:41:35] year budget that I was managing, if I
[1:41:38] was off by two or $300,000, I would get
[1:41:41] upset. But the community is like, well,
[1:41:43] this is much better than where we were
[1:41:44] two and three years ago out of 90
[1:41:46] million $50 million of salary alone. And
[1:41:50] the wildness of what the projections
[1:41:53] were that we were hearing is markedly
[1:41:55] improved. And so I offer that as a
[1:41:58] potential consideration in the future.
[1:42:00] >> Thank you for for sharing that because I
[1:42:02] also think that aligns with the
[1:42:04] direction that this particular body is
[1:42:06] has been kind of demanding we go forward
[1:42:10] with starting this year already. So
[1:42:13] thank you for that.
[1:42:16] >> I'd be interested in other
[1:42:18] recommendations as well.
[1:42:21] I agree with Miss Masani and um Mr. Fury
[1:42:27] if you wouldn't mind like setting that
[1:42:30] plan in motion so that it can be
[1:42:36] um like organized
[1:42:40] um going forward. Um I would greatly
[1:42:43] appreciate it and I think probably have
[1:42:45] agreement here at the table. Um, so this
[1:42:50] I I want to make sure that I I have this
[1:42:53] straight. This monthly report, you're
[1:42:57] going to use you and the town are going
[1:42:59] to use the same template.
[1:43:02] >> That's correct.
[1:43:03] >> And and their report is going to be
[1:43:06] separate. Correct. Ours is go Okay. and
[1:43:09] we're going to send that report to the
[1:43:13] town and they will take care of sending
[1:43:16] it to the auditor general. I think
[1:43:18] that's where it's gone.
[1:43:20] >> The auditor general is requiring
[1:43:22] communication whenever there is a um a
[1:43:26] potential issue. So, if we've identified
[1:43:28] a potential issue, then you're sending
[1:43:29] the report with potential issue. And
[1:43:32] what they're also expecting is an action
[1:43:35] plan to address whatever that issue is.
[1:43:37] And so that's when it would have to go.
[1:43:39] I would recommend that the district make
[1:43:42] sure it gets to the auditor general, be
[1:43:44] it the district can send it up or the
[1:43:46] town could. The town's really more
[1:43:49] organizing and providing that public
[1:43:52] access to all the town records in one
[1:43:54] spot. So if somebody's interested in
[1:43:55] town finance and school finance, they
[1:43:57] can look in one spot rather than going
[1:43:58] over to the website for the school
[1:44:00] department and then go find something
[1:44:01] and how it might be set up differently.
[1:44:03] But I think they're going to do
[1:44:04] something at the town to have it at the
[1:44:06] top of their website pile so it'll be an
[1:44:08] easy find for the public in the near
[1:44:10] future.
[1:44:11] >> And is that monthly report going to come
[1:44:14] to this body also?
[1:44:16] >> I could request a copy if you wish or I wanted to get you folks instructions
[1:44:21] at least to where they're going to be
[1:44:23] found. So if you wanted to find it so I
[1:44:25] could bring one over as a template to
[1:44:27] show it and then give the direction if
[1:44:29] you want it monthly from them. I know
[1:44:31] where you could swap, but if you know
[1:44:32] where to find it and it's easy enough to
[1:44:34] find, we can have that conversation. I'm
[1:44:36] happy to follow up with the town of
[1:44:37] Finance Director on that particular
[1:44:38] question.
[1:44:39] >> Well, I don't know what the rest of the
[1:44:41] school committee thinks, but we kind of
[1:44:45] get a monthly
[1:44:48] um financial report. And if the
[1:44:51] superintendent
[1:44:53] um and the assistant superintendent
[1:44:55] think that this template would give us
[1:44:59] similar
[1:45:00] um information,
[1:45:02] then certainly we could have that report
[1:45:07] um instead. But I really like your
[1:45:11] November and February.
[1:45:15] » Thank you.
[1:45:15] Mr. Purch. Yeah, I I'm in
[1:45:18] total agreement on the November and
[1:45:20] February uh reporting of where we are
[1:45:22] kind of checkpoints on on overall budget
[1:45:24] and I would agree with Mr. Gau about the
[1:45:27] um this monthly report maybe being in
[1:45:30] addition to the monthly report we
[1:45:31] already got. I think it just it it's
[1:45:34] showing the thinking behind if there's
[1:45:36] going to be a a variance or or deficit
[1:45:39] of some kind, what's the plan to fix it?
[1:45:41] That's something we all need to know as
[1:45:42] well. Also, I think it'll be very
[1:45:43] important for us to to see that as well,
[1:45:46] even if it is in addition to the
[1:45:47] reporting we already got.
[1:45:56] » I just really think it's a great way a
[1:45:59] great a great way forward
[1:46:03] and rebuilding trust with the town and
[1:46:05] the community at large. Um, and I look
[1:46:10] forward to that.
[1:46:12] um November and February report to help
[1:46:17] us in our budget process which as Kate
[1:46:21] alluded to we all agreed that you know
[1:46:24] we needed to do something different so I
[1:46:26] think that's a great idea to move
[1:46:29] forward. Thank you.
[1:46:33] » Do you need us to vote to accept your
[1:46:37] recommendation?
[1:46:38] >> Yes.
[1:46:39] >> Okay. So we need a motion. I thought so.
[1:46:42] Just wanted to make sure.
[1:46:43] >> I'll make a motion to accept the
[1:46:46] recommendation from Mr. Furuchi to god
[1:46:49] to the monthly financial reporting.
[1:46:53] >> Second.
[1:46:54] >> All those in favor?
[1:46:56] >> I I that motion passes. That will bring
[1:46:59] us to the next one. C.
[1:47:02] This uh discussion action fiscal year
[1:47:04] 2027 memo from Anthony Ferushi,
[1:47:07] financial consultant regarding the
[1:47:09] fiscal year 2027 budget to actual
[1:47:12] monthly report.
[1:47:14] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um I do have a
[1:47:16] package that has the format that we've
[1:47:19] been speaking about just a moment ago.
[1:47:21] It's breaking down the operating funds,
[1:47:23] what we consider operating funds, where
[1:47:25] the district is responsible for the
[1:47:27] surplus and deficits, etc. Um it's
[1:47:30] broken down into four, excuse me, three
[1:47:34] categories. One being your general fund,
[1:47:36] which is your school operating account.
[1:47:37] That's where the tax community dollars
[1:47:40] to support schools flows through. The
[1:47:43] next is your capital reserve fund.
[1:47:45] Typically, that's the funding that the
[1:47:47] schools have patched through from um
[1:47:49] prior year surpluses and and coming up
[1:47:52] this year. um housing aid that state has
[1:47:55] paid to the town and expenses the school
[1:47:58] has paid historically um is going to
[1:48:00] start coming through to the schools and
[1:48:01] that's a whole another topic of
[1:48:03] conversation but those funds will flow
[1:48:05] through your capital reserve and then
[1:48:06] lastly the school lunch and so this just
[1:48:10] is setting the the temperature and the
[1:48:12] template of you've got the operating
[1:48:14] funds revenue and the operant I noticed
[1:48:16] I made a mistake total all school
[1:48:18] operating expenses is in the first
[1:48:20] cluster that should have been revenue my
[1:48:22] apologies ies. And then the second
[1:48:24] cluster is the expenses in totality. The
[1:48:27] total budget, your year-to- date actual
[1:48:30] incumbrances are your open purchase
[1:48:32] orders or in the case of staff salaries.
[1:48:34] And we know who's getting paid out of
[1:48:36] what particular line after so many
[1:48:38] payrolls, it goes down to what we expect
[1:48:40] to pay them the course of the rest of
[1:48:42] the school year. Um, that's what your
[1:48:44] incumbrances total. And then it talks
[1:48:46] about your availability. Um, the general
[1:48:50] fund comments. Um I'm just highlighting
[1:48:53] the fact that the current budget is um
[1:48:57] under review. There's a number of issues
[1:49:00] that have come up um identified as the
[1:49:03] labor contract negotiations. What the
[1:49:06] impact may be on that facility director
[1:49:08] coming on board and being involved with
[1:49:11] capital improvements. capital
[1:49:13] improvement um budget has not been
[1:49:17] brought forward to the school committee
[1:49:19] for the upcoming school year FY27.
[1:49:21] So that what type of potential impact
[1:49:23] that will have and as we had heard
[1:49:26] earlier about the CTE and the tuitions.
[1:49:29] So, we are taking another review of your
[1:49:33] school committee adopted budget for FY27
[1:49:37] and I am targeting the end of September,
[1:49:40] the last meeting in September to come be
[1:49:43] back before you either validating the
[1:49:45] budget that we have and what you've
[1:49:47] approved collectively
[1:49:50] um is is um adequate and there's no
[1:49:54] surprises um or if there's some items in
[1:49:57] there Um, and most importantly, I'll
[1:50:01] talk about it in a couple minutes, the
[1:50:03] end results of FY26
[1:50:06] and what those triggers were,
[1:50:10] they will be compared to your FY27
[1:50:14] budget and budget projections.
[1:50:16] And so I think those areas and we can
[1:50:19] get into the detail in a moment but
[1:50:21] those types of areas we will have a
[1:50:24] strong presentation as to whether it's
[1:50:26] sustainable or they were oneoffs etc. Um
[1:50:30] and when we're talking in excess of a
[1:50:32] million dollars on the table for
[1:50:33] conversation I think it behooves us to
[1:50:36] do a full FY27 review with FY26 as a
[1:50:40] backs stop as to how did we really do
[1:50:42] last year. So that piece is on the table
[1:50:45] for consideration down the road. Um I
[1:50:49] just alluded to the capital fund is its
[1:50:51] own on the second page. It's its own
[1:50:53] comments and this is your opportunity if
[1:50:56] anything is doesn't seem to be commented
[1:50:58] on when you get these in advance of in
[1:51:00] the future. Um that would be your
[1:51:02] opportunity to challenge the CFO as to
[1:51:05] is there an issue with something and
[1:51:06] those comments should be made and and
[1:51:08] document what's going on on a regular
[1:51:10] basis. Um, but with
[1:51:14] the arrival of the new F uh facilities
[1:51:16] director and my involvement with the
[1:51:20] whole 5-year capital plan last year and
[1:51:23] meeting with the town manager and the
[1:51:25] superintendent,
[1:51:27] um, we've gotten clarity as to what we
[1:51:30] need to do to go forward and not having
[1:51:32] a capital budget approved right now is
[1:51:37] actually working out fine because with
[1:51:38] the new facilities director, that person
[1:51:41] will be responsible to achieve the the activities that are going to be come
[1:51:45] before you by the end of September. And
[1:51:48] so there's another document in here that
[1:51:50] I'm talking about capital budget. So I'm
[1:51:52] kind of leading into that. So I'll back
[1:51:54] off. We can get into more detail, but
[1:51:55] I'm articulating that in your summary
[1:51:58] report for the community to know that it
[1:52:00] is under further review and with
[1:52:02] solidification of when to expect. And to
[1:52:04] me, that's the biggest thing when with
[1:52:06] putting a document that's going to be
[1:52:08] out in the public realm is we've
[1:52:11] identified something and then we're
[1:52:13] going to leave you with what's this next
[1:52:16] step is. Be it follow up a month from
[1:52:18] now or we got it resolved or we've got
[1:52:22] to come up with another plan. But at
[1:52:23] least here we hopefully it comes across
[1:52:25] that yes we've identified something but
[1:52:28] we also have the action plan that's
[1:52:30] working on between now and a certain
[1:52:32] date and we're going to follow up on it
[1:52:33] and it becomes a target and everybody
[1:52:35] will be on board what the school is
[1:52:37] trying to achieve. So those are the
[1:52:39] pieces that are laid out in front of you
[1:52:42] and there's also the comment about the
[1:52:43] school lunch fund etc. It's just early
[1:52:46] the school doesn't open. We just have a
[1:52:48] small summer program so it's very
[1:52:49] minimal. There's really nothing to
[1:52:51] report out over the summer. There's
[1:52:52] nothing extraordinary to be concerned
[1:52:54] about at this time. And then the all the
[1:52:57] grants um the state just started
[1:53:00] approving grants. So we will be starting
[1:53:01] the post actually approved budgets and
[1:53:03] we'll get up to speed with that. So this
[1:53:05] is just a very minimal amount of impact
[1:53:08] on the community at this point. But the
[1:53:11] d total budget will be probably
[1:53:12] something of the interest for the
[1:53:14] community down the road when we get all
[1:53:15] the grant budgets approved and into the
[1:53:17] system. you'll see what kind of
[1:53:19] resources we have supporting our school
[1:53:21] system through that process.
[1:53:23] And then lastly is the attachment of the
[1:53:26] line item reports showing them
[1:53:30] collectively by what we consider object
[1:53:32] codes. So whether it be the salary line
[1:53:35] or a stipen line or the coaches and etc. um it's across all districts and I
[1:53:41] got to say kudos to your accounting team
[1:53:44] um from what they've been trying to
[1:53:45] achieve. Behind these four pages of
[1:53:48] reports for the general fund alone,
[1:53:51] there's over 7,000
[1:53:55] account codes in which to post the
[1:53:57] transaction. So, it's an incredibly
[1:53:59] tedious and focused effort to maintain
[1:54:03] the integrity um of the information
[1:54:06] that's going into the buckets uh
[1:54:08] appropriately. And this has to do with
[1:54:10] the Yukoa system. It's a 32digit account
[1:54:13] code which gives you opportunity to
[1:54:15] overanalyze a district in my opinion.
[1:54:18] But you see them from the macro level.
[1:54:20] Office supplies is one line,
[1:54:22] instructional textbooks is another line,
[1:54:25] but it's collective. Our report doesn't
[1:54:27] break it down by so by high school,
[1:54:30] middle school or or subject, but in your
[1:54:32] system it is. And so if you want that
[1:54:34] level of detail, it's available, but the
[1:54:36] summary level is what um is our standard
[1:54:39] report. You know, we should be fine with
[1:54:40] that. Any questions?
[1:54:44] >> I have a question. Um so I I think for
[1:54:48] me it's just a clarifying question. So
[1:54:51] when you talk about fringe benefits and
[1:54:54] or under budget, um do you mean that we
[1:55:00] didn't do that in our budget? So
[1:55:04] we didn't budget enough money for it and
[1:55:06] you had to go somewhere else to find it
[1:55:09] to be able to cover these amounts
[1:55:12] >> potentially. Yes. That that's the
[1:55:14] expectation. Yes. But the communication
[1:55:18] to you as a body and to the public and
[1:55:21] as a whole, I think is the critical link
[1:55:24] here. that if you're identifying a
[1:55:26] movement of something underneath the
[1:55:28] what I call underneath the hood out of
[1:55:30] those 7,000 lines and if it's not in the
[1:55:34] same object code we're moving something
[1:55:36] from salary because we have an open
[1:55:39] position but we had to cover an out of
[1:55:41] district tuition that can be
[1:55:43] communicated in the comment area. Um,
[1:55:47] but when you do your November
[1:55:50] projection, I always presented it as a
[1:55:52] revised budget. So that you would adopt
[1:55:54] a budget and then that would be where
[1:55:56] it's embedded that you took the salary
[1:55:58] and slid it budgetarily down there. So
[1:56:00] when you produce these reports in the
[1:56:01] future,
[1:56:03] they will align with one another, that
[1:56:05] the salaries is accurate and that
[1:56:08] purchase service is accurate. So if the
[1:56:11] subsystem isn't managed, it could look
[1:56:13] like it's out of balance and you may
[1:56:16] have a problem not realizing that
[1:56:18] there's a opportunity in other areas.
[1:56:20] And there's another half a step the
[1:56:22] district could consider. Um I've had two
[1:56:25] different experiences where this the
[1:56:28] administration was allowed to move money
[1:56:31] in the category supplies. And so the
[1:56:34] Yukoa County codes use the first two
[1:56:36] digits for category. So a 56 supply,
[1:56:40] there could be 500 56 accounts or a 55
[1:56:45] account or a 53 account or 51 account.
[1:56:49] The administration was allowed to move
[1:56:50] it over there because you approved total
[1:56:52] salaries, you've approved total purchase
[1:56:53] services, etc. But if you needed money
[1:56:56] from one of the categories to go to
[1:56:58] another category, the school committee
[1:57:00] got involved and said we want to be the
[1:57:02] one that authorizes that and approves
[1:57:04] that. And that allows you to know
[1:57:07] whether money was in supplies, it's
[1:57:09] over. Now we're going to put over in
[1:57:10] salaries and hire another body that the
[1:57:13] school committee may not be aware of at
[1:57:14] the time. So those cross categories was
[1:57:17] an opportunity. This wait a minute, I
[1:57:20] thought you needed these things to
[1:57:21] purchase services or salary and now
[1:57:23] you're telling me you're going to go buy
[1:57:24] equipment with it. You know, is it one
[1:57:26] of is it this is boutine, etc., etc. So
[1:57:29] those kinds of internal operational
[1:57:31] things will come to play because if you
[1:57:33] don't make the budget adjustments even
[1:57:35] though everybody knows about it, the
[1:57:37] report could look skewed when it's out
[1:57:39] in the public realm. So just be
[1:57:41] conscious of the timing of moving budget
[1:57:45] numbers and who knows what when. I've
[1:57:48] always been an advocate upfront first,
[1:57:50] make the adjustment and then we can move
[1:57:52] on. You've heard the reasons, you agree
[1:57:54] with the rationale, we're moving
[1:57:56] forward. this is appropriate for this
[1:57:58] year and then it'll be revisited next
[1:57:59] year and then the system could be
[1:58:01] >> just so I can think I'm understanding
[1:58:05] where you're going. So in here I'm
[1:58:08] reading that the retiring the retirees
[1:58:12] benefit
[1:58:14] and
[1:58:16] um
[1:58:20] so
[1:58:21] that's it. So with retirees, we don't
[1:58:24] know that they're going to retire.
[1:58:26] >> Correct.
[1:58:27] >> So is that what impacts that
[1:58:30] >> occasionally? Yes.
[1:58:32] >> The budget then?
[1:58:32] >> Yes.
[1:58:33] >> Okay. So that I'm correct.
[1:58:35] >> Yep. And and a lot of times if if it
[1:58:37] happens in December, um it'll impact the
[1:58:40] tail end of your year, but you don't
[1:58:41] know about it until sometimes they come
[1:58:43] back and say, "There's an opportunity
[1:58:45] for me to leave." Or like what just
[1:58:46] happened, if it happens in August, well,
[1:58:48] we're going to replace that person. And
[1:58:51] that could be a cost savings that will
[1:58:54] get calculated officially in your
[1:58:55] November calculations cuz
[1:58:57] >> but you can't really call it a a savings
[1:59:00] because now you have to pay retirement
[1:59:04] benefits and etc like that. Correct.
[1:59:07] Right.
[1:59:08] >> Yeah.
[1:59:08] >> Okay. That that should get factored in
[1:59:10] during that conversation when the
[1:59:12] triggers take place. And then it's
[1:59:14] material. I mean, if you miss one dental
[1:59:17] bill or two dental bill or even six
[1:59:19] month worth of dental bills, you're only
[1:59:20] talking three, four, $500, $1,000. You
[1:59:24] know, at least you're getting rid of big
[1:59:27] items that seem to be sometimes a
[1:59:29] surprise in some communities. And so
[1:59:31] that's what we're going to be trying to
[1:59:33] formalize while you go through this
[1:59:35] process. you're going to whittle down
[1:59:37] the uncertainties of what we're facing
[1:59:41] um as this thing progresses through the
[1:59:42] course of its uh function.
[1:59:45] >> So um I I am greatly appreciative of you
[1:59:50] bringing back the um need for budget
[1:59:55] amend amendments. We we definitely need
[1:59:58] to do that on a consistent basis. Along
[2:00:01] with budget amendments, I would like to
[2:00:04] also see a variance analysis of any any
[2:00:08] variance in any of the accounts that
[2:00:11] might be above some set number. And with the rationale, I mean, I'm going to
[2:00:16] use an example. The town was using
[2:00:19] energy credits, so we were way under the
[2:00:22] budget for electricity. We if we were
[2:00:25] looking at the at a variance analysis on
[2:00:27] an ongoing basis, we would have seen it.
[2:00:29] So, you know, it's great that it was
[2:00:31] under budgeted, but there was no
[2:00:34] visibility of it. Um, so I'm just going
[2:00:37] to ask Kate, do you think we should have
[2:00:40] a subcommittee meeting to talk about
[2:00:43] what reporting requirements we may need?
[2:00:48] >> I do. I think we I think we need um I
[2:00:50] think we actually need to start having a
[2:00:53] more frequent budget and and finance
[2:00:55] subcommittee meeting. And I think it
[2:00:57] also aligns with the monthly reports
[2:00:59] that we're generating. Do we have to
[2:01:01] have it monthly? Maybe not, but maybe
[2:01:03] you know by monthly or or you know so
[2:01:07] because we need um
[2:01:10] our number one our number one focus has
[2:01:13] been transparency
[2:01:16] and I think we lost some of that over
[2:01:19] the past year unfortunately and uh we
[2:01:23] need to regain it and um and so I think
[2:01:26] this sets that stage to to kind of
[2:01:30] reclaiming that. Um, I think we kind of
[2:01:32] took for granted that we had
[2:01:35] transparency. Um, and and it kind of fit
[2:01:39] us. So, I want to make sure we get back
[2:01:41] to it. Um, and I think this sets us up
[2:01:43] for that for sure. And having that type
[2:01:46] of visibility that you're referring to,
[2:01:48] it just it o it just cl it opens the
[2:01:50] door cl and clarifies everything for us.
[2:01:55] and and maybe as these monthly reports
[2:02:00] um start rolling out well they've
[2:02:02] already started but continue to roll out
[2:02:05] um maybe we should the budget
[2:02:08] subcommittee should meet monthly and
[2:02:11] then after we get you know both feet dug
[2:02:15] in um we may be able to make it um less
[2:02:19] often I'm not looking to add meetings to
[2:02:23] everybody's plate. Um,
[2:02:27] so um, Mr. Fury,
[2:02:31] I am the abstract math person here at
[2:02:33] the table, not the accounting person.
[2:02:36] >> Mhm.
[2:02:36] >> So, um, your notation,
[2:02:40] I always have to clarify this. You've
[2:02:43] got these things. Are those negative
[2:02:46] amounts?
[2:02:47] >> Yes. typically um
[2:02:50] >> use a negative sign like we do.
[2:02:53] >> It's it's sometimes it's difficult to
[2:02:54] see that little dash. I find the
[2:02:56] brackets to be um easier to read.
[2:03:01] >> They use something else different.
[2:03:05] I want a negative sign. Make it red.
[2:03:09] >> Yeah, we could make it red. I would have
[2:03:11] gotten it if it was red.
[2:03:15] Any
[2:03:24] other questions?
[2:03:28] All right.
[2:03:30] >> I don't I don't think we need to have a
[2:03:33] motion to accept your memo, though.
[2:03:34] Right. Good. Okay. Um
[2:03:36] >> I'm sorry, K, before we move on, I'm
[2:03:38] just curious. So this particular this is
[2:03:41] a this is um this is a different than
[2:03:44] what we went in front of the town with
[2:03:48] many times over the past year. I'm
[2:03:50] curious are we are we speaking to that
[2:03:53] with the town at all? Like what kind of
[2:03:55] where where do we stand with all that?
[2:04:00] I believe the next step once we've
[2:04:02] stopped this monthly process, we'll get
[2:04:05] clarity on
[2:04:07] um aligning communication with the town
[2:04:10] so that it makes sense. And so that
[2:04:13] would be probably the next level of
[2:04:15] activity associated with what we're
[2:04:17] talking about this evening.
[2:04:18] >> I can get back to you on that.
[2:04:20] >> Thank you.
[2:04:24] » All right. Thank you. That was a good
[2:04:25] question. Um all right that'll bring us
[2:04:28] to D discussion action fiscal year 2026
[2:04:31] district end of year revenue expenses
[2:04:33] and fund balance.
[2:04:35] >> Thank you madam chair. Um this one is
[2:04:39] going to be of every interest much
[2:04:41] interest clearly and there was lots of
[2:04:44] um data points and as you had mentioned
[2:04:47] the timeliness of what do we know when
[2:04:49] do we know etc etc. The bottom line is
[2:04:53] the expenses have been pushed through.
[2:04:55] There were a few items that I had to do
[2:04:57] additional research on
[2:05:00] and one of them as the school committee
[2:05:02] chair me uh chair had mentioned happened
[2:05:05] to be electricity.
[2:05:08] And so the unique item of electricity
[2:05:10] was with net metering. There was a
[2:05:12] change of practice in the business
[2:05:14] office this past school year. And so in
[2:05:17] meeting with the town,
[2:05:20] the electric bills we received show
[2:05:22] credits coming off and having net zero
[2:05:25] numbers owed to the electric company.
[2:05:27] But historically, we were recording the
[2:05:30] expense as if we pay the bill. It just
[2:05:32] happens to get paid in another manner.
[2:05:34] And so that was the bookkeeping to
[2:05:36] sustain how much it actually would cost
[2:05:38] us for electricity.
[2:05:41] By making the change, it made the
[2:05:43] expense go down, which created confusion
[2:05:46] through the course of the whole year.
[2:05:48] There was a worksheet that had all of
[2:05:50] the open bills and what the charges
[2:05:52] would have been. And so those charges
[2:05:55] have in fact been posted to the school's
[2:05:58] expenditure account. So you don't lose
[2:06:00] the history of how much our electric
[2:06:02] actually cost without the net metering.
[2:06:05] What's a question that's on further
[2:06:07] research
[2:06:09] is that payment that the electric
[2:06:13] company was recognizing as take it off
[2:06:15] your bill, you don't have to send us a
[2:06:17] check.
[2:06:19] Where were those funds? Typically, we
[2:06:20] were accounting with the town for that
[2:06:22] and it was a separate. There's no
[2:06:24] revenue aligned in our operating budget.
[2:06:27] if there was checks coming in,
[2:06:30] which is typical of comparing this
[2:06:31] budget versus historical budgets. I'm
[2:06:34] still resolving the whole piece of where
[2:06:37] was the credit offered because we don't
[2:06:40] want to lose the sight that if all of a
[2:06:42] sudden net metering goes away and that
[2:06:45] financial support goes away, we're still
[2:06:47] going to have electrical expenses. So
[2:06:50] that's why it was important to restate
[2:06:52] the expenses in our operating budget
[2:06:54] because that's what it would really cost
[2:06:55] us. and offset is the question of where
[2:06:59] is that recognized in any of our
[2:07:02] operating statements. So right now I'm
[2:07:04] not aware of any recognition of the
[2:07:07] revenue coming in affecting our revenue
[2:07:10] for the last year that just closed. But
[2:07:12] we did elevate the expense. So, in round
[2:07:15] numbers, I was able to demonstrate that
[2:07:18] we've actually had income in excess of
[2:07:22] $898,000
[2:07:25] when comparing budget to what actually
[2:07:27] came in. Okay? And in my comments below,
[2:07:32] I break down what the major contributors
[2:07:36] were that gave us that $898,000
[2:07:40] income level. All right. First and
[2:07:43] foremost, your Medicaid building billing
[2:07:46] for student services, what was Medicaid
[2:07:48] eligible, exceeded budget by over 100%.
[2:07:52] You had a budget somewhere in the
[2:07:54] neighborhood of half a million dollar
[2:07:56] and it came in at a million50,000.
[2:08:00] So $550,000
[2:08:02] of additional billing. I know the
[2:08:04] special ed department put in uh
[2:08:07] procedures to make sure we build for the
[2:08:09] activities that were available for
[2:08:12] billing for our students and the
[2:08:13] services being provided. So that was one
[2:08:15] initiative I understand helped
[2:08:17] contribute to this. Second initiative is
[2:08:20] there was some sunsetting of Medicare
[2:08:23] activities where they were paying bills
[2:08:26] um and so that got taken care of but
[2:08:29] they may not exist coming into this
[2:08:32] year. And so there was an economic
[2:08:34] opportunity and a windfall. So the
[2:08:36] dollars are real today. And what I
[2:08:39] mentioned in my document is part of our
[2:08:42] research for the FY27 budget.
[2:08:46] This is one of those. Can the Medicaid
[2:08:50] Medicare Medicaid uh billing be
[2:08:53] sustained for FY27?
[2:08:56] because you have a budget that's roughly
[2:08:58] the same budget you had in FY26, about
[2:09:01] $600,000.
[2:09:03] So, can we continue to bill activities
[2:09:06] and reach a million dollars in billing?
[2:09:08] That's a big number for conversation. I
[2:09:10] hope to have an answer by the end of
[2:09:12] September. I'm meeting with the director
[2:09:14] of special ed to find out the billing
[2:09:16] opportunities. If we had a two or three
[2:09:19] students that came into district last
[2:09:20] year and had very unique issues and that
[2:09:24] triggered the billing according to their
[2:09:26] unique issues and those students now are
[2:09:29] not enrolled or they no longer need
[2:09:31] those unique services, then it's it's
[2:09:35] very possible the building can go down
[2:09:37] substantially. So that we got to get
[2:09:38] clarity on as to what those triggers
[2:09:41] were and that's what we're working on
[2:09:43] now and we'll have answers by the end of
[2:09:45] September.
[2:09:47] Next category was tuitions of students
[2:09:49] coming to South Kingston
[2:09:52] in excess of 180,000. Again, your budget
[2:09:55] was only about 150,000. So, we made up
[2:09:57] over 100% on that category as well. And
[2:10:00] it's the same issue. The numbers of
[2:10:03] students coming going to be sustained
[2:10:05] was next year's budget FY27 built on
[2:10:08] what we were actually receiving. So, it
[2:10:11] would be um absolutely critical to know
[2:10:14] that we're going to be able to sustain
[2:10:15] it or was the budget built based on last
[2:10:18] year's budget and is there an
[2:10:20] opportunity that that revenue may also
[2:10:22] go up. I'll have those answers come
[2:10:24] September.
[2:10:27] And then there's earnings on investments
[2:10:28] and I'll be working with the town that
[2:10:31] um we went up close to 60% of plus
[2:10:35] $113,000
[2:10:37] for that category alone. And again, was
[2:10:40] it because of where investments were?
[2:10:42] How did that investment get generated?
[2:10:45] What were the interest rates? Are
[2:10:46] interest rates coming down? We need to
[2:10:48] validate whether what we received was
[2:10:52] better benchmark for the upcoming year
[2:10:54] or we got to roll it back. But I'll have
[2:10:55] an answer as to why we won't match it or
[2:10:58] we will match it when we do the 27. So
[2:11:00] these are all baselines for us to talk
[2:11:02] about going into 27, but it's real as of
[2:11:06] June 30th. And so that helped the
[2:11:09] district immensely.
[2:11:12] The next item on the general fund is
[2:11:14] expenditures. And as I had noted that we
[2:11:17] came in under budget on expenditures by
[2:11:20] $840,000
[2:11:23] and they were categories
[2:11:26] fringe benefits was $290,000
[2:11:29] under spent in the categories in
[2:11:32] particular our retiree paid benefits by
[2:11:34] over 240,000 of it. Staff life insurance
[2:11:38] and medical buyback attributed for the
[2:11:40] other 54,000. So that became the 290.
[2:11:44] The question to be had is the retiree
[2:11:46] benefits. Um, is that just a oneoff? Why
[2:11:51] was there such a significant savings?
[2:11:52] What is it compared to for 27? And is
[2:11:54] that sustainable? And so again, it's a
[2:11:57] good problem to have, but what you do
[2:12:00] with the information becomes critical
[2:12:02] about how valid is it. And so, um, that
[2:12:05] is further research. Fringe benefits
[2:12:09] contributions to contractual pension
[2:12:11] plans was under by 194,000.
[2:12:14] Still saying I feel like it's redundant.
[2:12:17] Our salaries came in relatively close to
[2:12:19] budget somewhere in the neighborhood of
[2:12:21] about $30,000 out of $29 million salary.
[2:12:25] What prompted the pension contribution?
[2:12:28] Whether there was a projection of an
[2:12:30] increase in contribution rate or there
[2:12:33] was periods where we had folks with open
[2:12:35] positions. I'm not sure what triggered
[2:12:36] those pieces, but that's what the
[2:12:38] research is going to drive. And then how
[2:12:40] does next year's 2027's pension
[2:12:44] contributions line up budgetarily with
[2:12:47] the salaries that are appropriate to
[2:12:48] those categories is going to be. So
[2:12:50] these be this is becoming the outline
[2:12:53] for our accounting manager to have
[2:12:55] answers for me. how we created the
[2:12:58] budget, is it sustainable and then have
[2:13:01] a better stronger budget presentation
[2:13:04] for you for 27.
[2:13:07] And then other purchase services is
[2:13:09] primarily the out of district tuitions
[2:13:11] for for vocational and special ed had
[2:13:14] gone down. Um and is that sustainable
[2:13:16] becomes another question.
[2:13:19] The side pieces I wanted to highlight is
[2:13:21] there was a claim settlement of 150,000.
[2:13:24] you didn't have a budget for that
[2:13:26] particular item, but because of the
[2:13:28] savings and in and other categories and
[2:13:30] the revenue, it did not have a a
[2:13:33] negative impact on our bottom line for
[2:13:35] the school year. So, that's a good
[2:13:37] thing. And last but not least is the
[2:13:41] summary report attached has broken out
[2:13:44] for you the whole general fund. But in
[2:13:48] order to have the recognition of the
[2:13:51] funds that the school committee adopted
[2:13:54] in a budget for the capital program for
[2:13:57] FY26 which was done back in August of
[2:14:00] 2025 last year I came before you with a
[2:14:03] recommended budget.
[2:14:05] This the school committee approved a
[2:14:08] recommended budget of $2.1 million
[2:14:11] and $780,000 was going to be capital
[2:14:14] fund dollars that was still left in the
[2:14:16] 0429 account.
[2:14:18] And the difference of the 1.4 million
[2:14:21] school committee authorized
[2:14:22] administration to transfer 1.4 for from
[2:14:25] the general fund fund balance carryover
[2:14:29] from prior years to the capital account
[2:14:32] to pay for the building activities that
[2:14:35] were in the budget.
[2:14:37] The school district only achieved
[2:14:39] $1,95,000
[2:14:42] of need for the projects that got
[2:14:44] completed. So some of the projects came
[2:14:46] in under budget and so we didn't need
[2:14:47] the money etc. the 1951
[2:14:51] 1,95,000
[2:14:53] was transferred over so that the capital
[2:14:57] fund budget 0429 will show expenses and
[2:15:00] revenue balance. So those revenue
[2:15:02] figures came in just as had pl been
[2:15:04] planned and authorized.
[2:15:08] If the budget did not have the extra
[2:15:10] revenue for FY26 and did not come in
[2:15:14] under budget
[2:15:15] by the $800,000,
[2:15:18] those two items provided about a $1.6
[2:15:22] million
[2:15:24] value left over for the operating school
[2:15:26] year. The million is being deducted from
[2:15:29] the 1.6 six because that's the
[2:15:31] bookkeeping entry. We have to show the
[2:15:33] community what money is being
[2:15:34] transferred from general fund.
[2:15:37] If the whole budget and the revenue came
[2:15:40] in as planned,
[2:15:42] then the school department would have
[2:15:44] had a balanced operational budget and a
[2:15:48] million 95 transfer and it would have
[2:15:50] showed a deficit of a million 95. But
[2:15:52] that million95 would have been taken out
[2:15:54] of the fund balance that we authorized
[2:15:57] last year because everybody knows we got
[2:15:59] over $3 million in fund balance that's
[2:16:01] not targeted and that was the source of
[2:16:04] dollars we were using. So the good side
[2:16:06] is we're now in a position to just slide
[2:16:10] over the net number that's remaining
[2:16:12] which is $600,000. So we have our
[2:16:14] homework on very specific targets of
[2:16:17] what drove the differences.
[2:16:19] We have an understanding of the impact
[2:16:21] of the transfer and how it was covered.
[2:16:25] And we also end up with my final piece
[2:16:27] is the 1.7 was the surplus deficit for
[2:16:31] the year before taking into account the
[2:16:34] transfer to make the capital program be
[2:16:36] balanced. By subtracting the million 95,
[2:16:40] we're going to have 643,000
[2:16:43] remaining. That 643 will get added to
[2:16:46] last year's fund balance because there's
[2:16:48] been no change in that over the school
[2:16:50] year. It waits till the very end after
[2:16:51] the operating is determined plus or
[2:16:54] minus goes into that account. Under
[2:16:56] school committee policy at 2% of the
[2:16:58] general fund budget is set aside for the
[2:17:02] potential if there's ever um any
[2:17:04] emergencies and shortcomings etc. That
[2:17:07] should be defined as restricted fund
[2:17:10] balance for those activities. And so on
[2:17:13] our audit reports, we had a a fund
[2:17:15] balance of over $4 million.
[2:17:19] So subtracting the 1.26
[2:17:22] from the 4 million
[2:17:25] gives us the uh I mean from the from the
[2:17:28] beginning gives us the 4 million. Um, by
[2:17:32] adding in the $643,000,
[2:17:36] our endofear total fund balance that
[2:17:38] you'll see on your order reports later
[2:17:40] this fall is going to be 5.3 million of
[2:17:44] which 1.266 is restricted per school
[2:17:48] committee policy, which would leave us
[2:17:50] approximately $3 million
[2:17:54] for consideration
[2:17:56] of paper projects. And I'm setting this
[2:18:00] stage for when we come before you with
[2:18:02] the capital program. If we need the use
[2:18:04] of fund balance, it's available and it's
[2:18:06] there. I'm also analyzing FY27 because
[2:18:10] my understanding is that there was an
[2:18:11] allocation of $1.3 million of fund
[2:18:14] balance use to make the FY27 budget
[2:18:17] balance for this coming school year. So
[2:18:20] simultaneously I will be looking at the
[2:18:22] potential need for that 1.3
[2:18:25] whether the sustained income that we're
[2:18:28] talking about is achievable then you may
[2:18:30] not need it and we can have those
[2:18:32] conversations once I have 27 completed.
[2:18:36] So just setting the stage that if this
[2:18:38] makes sense audit report last year
[2:18:40] anybody who has the audit report you're
[2:18:42] going to see fund balance broken into a
[2:18:44] couple of categories but it totals about
[2:18:46] $4.1 million. you take our 1.2 out,
[2:18:50] that's where we come in with that $4
[2:18:52] million number and then we're gonna
[2:18:55] because if you add those two, that's
[2:18:56] what's out there publicly.
[2:18:59] Does that make sense? I hope I didn't
[2:19:00] confuse you too much. I know it's deep,
[2:19:03] but it has such impact.
[2:19:07] I think what you presented to us was
[2:19:09] very clear and I understand this report
[2:19:12] very well. Um, I think where
[2:19:17] I'm I'm not confused by it, but I am
[2:19:20] just want to call out that this is
[2:19:24] distinctly different from what we acted
[2:19:27] on
[2:19:29] with the town. And I want to make sure
[2:19:31] that that piece is clear. That's not a
[2:19:33] you thing. That's a us thing. And I I am
[2:19:37] feeling and and maybe someone at the
[2:19:38] table can make me feel better, but I am
[2:19:41] feeling like we kind of glossed over
[2:19:44] that
[2:19:45] at the moment. Um, and I just may be
[2:19:48] missing something, but I just want us to
[2:19:50] be clear that this is very different
[2:19:53] from the budget we passed and presented
[2:19:56] and acted on the end of last year and
[2:20:01] where this is um
[2:20:06] this is what we should trust to be
[2:20:09] accurate. Now, um I just want to make
[2:20:12] sure we're not glossing over anything
[2:20:14] because I I just am feeling a little bit
[2:20:17] like we are.
[2:20:19] >> Can I ask a clarifying question?
[2:20:24] What was the beginning of fund balance
[2:20:26] at the beginning of of this fiscal year?
[2:20:29] >> 4.1 uh $4.1 million.
[2:20:35] >> Okay. So,
[2:20:37] we we had 4.1 million in fund balance.
[2:20:42] We spent 1.1 million on capital
[2:20:45] improvements, bringing us down to three,
[2:20:48] and we're ending with five.
[2:20:51] >> Well, the the inclusion of your
[2:20:54] restricted fund is is what I'm
[2:20:57] targeting. There's the separation when
[2:20:59] you say three and four where we had the million dollars of targeted fund on
[2:21:05] the 2%.
[2:21:07] So what was available for use came in at
[2:21:10] 3.8 I mean um 2.8.
[2:21:13] >> Okay. I and I know there's there's a
[2:21:16] restricted fund balance and the
[2:21:18] unrestricted fund balance and the
[2:21:20] 600,000 of the surplus that we just will
[2:21:24] transfer the fund balance that goes to
[2:21:26] the unrestricted fund balance. Correct.
[2:21:28] >> Correct.
[2:21:29] >> When we move money into the capital fund
[2:21:33] balance, that's going into the
[2:21:35] restricted fund balance. Correct.
[2:21:37] >> That's out of the Yes, that's correct.
[2:21:39] >> Okay. So I guess my question really is
[2:21:42] what were the numbers in the just the
[2:21:44] unrestricted
[2:21:47] fund balance and if you don't know I'm
[2:21:50] not I I I know you can't come here and
[2:21:52] know everything in your head but if you
[2:21:54] could get this
[2:21:55] >> it's approximately um the total on your
[2:21:58] order report when I remember is
[2:22:00] $1,100,000
[2:22:02] was your June 30th 2025 end of fund
[2:22:05] balance which was inclusive of both 2%
[2:22:09] set aside and the restricted. So if your
[2:22:12] 2% was 1.2 million, subtract that off of
[2:22:15] the 4.1 that gets you down to the 2.8
[2:22:20] is what was in restricted I mean
[2:22:23] unrestricted fund balance last year.
[2:22:25] Okay.
[2:22:26] >> Okay.
[2:22:26] >> And from that amount is what we were
[2:22:28] expecting to draw over to pay for the
[2:22:31] capital program 1.4 million of that. I
[2:22:35] guess my real question is
[2:22:38] to see in the unrestricted fund balance
[2:22:42] what actually
[2:22:45] was the difference in the over the year
[2:22:47] because I think that's going to be clear
[2:22:51] what the true surplus is because if
[2:22:58] whatever amount it's increasing by
[2:23:02] it because that's where it lands the tr
[2:23:04] the true surplus and and I know there's
[2:23:07] a lot of moving parts and I think you've
[2:23:09] done an excellent job of laying out
[2:23:11] because you've got things that are over
[2:23:12] budget, things that are under budget,
[2:23:14] some are revenue, some are expenses. So,
[2:23:17] um so I think you've done a I I follow
[2:23:19] it really well. I just want to see that
[2:23:22] fund balance piece a bit more clear.
[2:23:25] Based on that uh request, I understand
[2:23:28] fully, I will make a photocopy of the
[2:23:31] actual audit report, which would give us
[2:23:32] the specific dollar value of the fund
[2:23:34] balance as of June 30th. What we will be
[2:23:38] able to then do is take clearly the
[2:23:40] $643,000
[2:23:43] is going to be the dollar value that's
[2:23:45] going to get transferred into the fund
[2:23:47] balance when the auditors do their work.
[2:23:50] Mhm.
[2:23:51] >> And I'll be able to show you from what
[2:23:52] their last year number ended plus the
[2:23:55] 643. That would be the total. And then
[2:23:59] from there, once we have that total
[2:24:00] number in front of us, we know the 2%
[2:24:02] set aside, we can make that deduction
[2:24:04] off of that recalculated balance. And
[2:24:07] that will become what's restricted for
[2:24:10] by the school policy. And then that
[2:24:12] whole conversation, that's the remaining
[2:24:14] balance. Absolutely. I can pull that
[2:24:15] piece together pretty quickly and I
[2:24:17] think it'll clarify exactly the question
[2:24:19] that you're asking.
[2:24:20] >> That would be great because I I just
[2:24:22] would like to understand the fund
[2:24:23] balance piece a bit more. Um and I do
[2:24:26] have one more question.
[2:24:29] >> Um so if I'm looking at this and this is
[2:24:32] a great summary of the general funds net
[2:24:34] position. I I do appreciate that. Um it says surplus deficit for school year
[2:24:42] and it shows a surplus of approximately
[2:24:45] 1.7 million. So if people are looking at
[2:24:48] this report, would you say yes, that's
[2:24:50] the surplus we have at the end of this
[2:24:52] fiscal year?
[2:24:54] >> Operationally, yes.
[2:24:56] >> Okay.
[2:24:57] >> Um because we were expecting to take the
[2:25:00] $1,95,000
[2:25:01] out of last year's $4 million,
[2:25:04] >> right? that piece kind of gets lost in
[2:25:06] the conversation.
[2:25:08] >> Okay. But if we took it out of that fund
[2:25:11] balance, then we would be adding a
[2:25:14] million7 into the fund balance,
[2:25:16] replenishing what was taken out. This is
[2:25:18] the same position, just showing it
[2:25:20] differently that we had a million7
[2:25:22] operationally,
[2:25:24] but we used a million5 for the capital,
[2:25:27] which allowed us to only put 600, but we
[2:25:29] took nothing out. So, it just increased
[2:25:31] the fund balance. So yes, you're
[2:25:32] absolutely right on that
[2:25:33] >> because what I want to do is separate
[2:25:35] the two because I don't want people to
[2:25:37] look at this and say, "Oh,
[2:25:40] our net surplus was 644,000
[2:25:44] when really operationally
[2:25:46] the surplus was 1.7."
[2:25:48] >> Correct.
[2:25:49] >> So, okay, thank you for clarifying. I
[2:25:51] want to be as transparent as we can with
[2:25:53] people so that when they see this
[2:25:55] report, they they can understand exactly
[2:25:58] what the numbers mean. And I think when
[2:25:59] people say surplus, they mean the out of
[2:26:01] the operating budget, the surplus. Thank
[2:26:04] you.
[2:26:04] >> And I think your prom my promise to the
[2:26:06] you and the community runs along the
[2:26:08] lines of looking back, we've identified
[2:26:12] the two major pockets which created the
[2:26:14] million7. The best we can do today is
[2:26:17] take that and validate how that's
[2:26:20] presented in FY27. If we can come back
[2:26:23] to you and say the the Medicaid billing
[2:26:25] is going to be sustained
[2:26:27] and we make adjustment on FY27 budget,
[2:26:31] the million3 you currently have targeted
[2:26:34] to take out of your restricted fund to
[2:26:36] make the operating budget for the
[2:26:37] upcoming year could be relieved of that
[2:26:40] pressure.
[2:26:42] But if we can't sustain it, I think most
[2:26:45] importantly
[2:26:47] is you'll have the reason why it's not
[2:26:50] sustainable.
[2:26:52] >> And people a year from now when asked
[2:26:54] the question, wait a minute, last year
[2:26:56] you you had this much and now you don't.
[2:26:58] The question has already been answered.
[2:27:00] We went through the process. Here's why
[2:27:03] we don't achieve the 800,000.
[2:27:06] Here's why the expenses and what
[2:27:08] happened aren't going to be achieved. We
[2:27:11] are now down to that level of
[2:27:13] understanding because we started at the
[2:27:15] top of what's the two drivers validate
[2:27:19] how successful those drivers are going
[2:27:21] forward. And if it and if we choose to
[2:27:23] not include it for some reason then
[2:27:25] that's a that's a bat on us for doing
[2:27:27] that and that's the conversation that
[2:27:29] will take place in September. To me, the
[2:27:31] real work and the real validation and
[2:27:33] where we're going to stand will be on
[2:27:35] that analysis of whether we add that
[2:27:38] into the budget or not. Because, god
[2:27:40] forbid, you add it in and make another
[2:27:42] decision and all of a sudden the feds
[2:27:45] pulled the Medicaid billing process and
[2:27:47] dropped threequarters of a million
[2:27:49] dollars on us. And it's like, well, I
[2:27:50] added the 500 we thought we were going
[2:27:52] to make and now we're 800,000 in the
[2:27:53] hole. How'd you allow that to happen? We
[2:27:55] didn't allow. So, all of those things
[2:27:57] will come to rise. We're trying to get
[2:27:59] in front of that. That just brings up a
[2:28:01] couple things. First of all, thank you
[2:28:02] for your analysis that you've done on um
[2:28:05] the 2026 budget. I I think you're
[2:28:09] very perceptive. It It's not just the
[2:28:11] number, it's the why. How did we get to
[2:28:13] that number? What's causing the you
[2:28:16] know, what caused the surplus? I mean,
[2:28:18] it's good to have a surplus, but we were
[2:28:20] not expecting it and not being able to
[2:28:23] know what the real numbers were is, you
[2:28:26] know, we don't want to be in that
[2:28:27] position again. and and this analysis is
[2:28:30] wonderful and I know you're going to now
[2:28:32] look at the 20 do that analysis on the
[2:28:35] 2027 budget. So, um but that risk in
[2:28:42] Medicaid reimbursement knowing I mean we
[2:28:44] can't predict what the federal
[2:28:46] government's going to do, right? Um it
[2:28:49] goes to how much is really needed in
[2:28:52] fund balance because that's our safety
[2:28:55] net for those shocks uh financial
[2:28:58] shocks. So yes, we have a policies that
[2:29:01] says 1 to 2% but it really should be 1
[2:29:03] to 2% plus known risks should also
[2:29:07] increase that amount cap so that we have
[2:29:11] funds available for the any of those
[2:29:13] risks. So anyways, um thank you for
[2:29:17] answering all of those questions and I'm
[2:29:19] going to ask others if they have more
[2:29:21] questions.
[2:29:22] >> Yeah, I um so my question is this fund
[2:29:26] balance
[2:29:28] at the end of 2026
[2:29:33] has a total of 5,358
[2:29:38] 911.
[2:29:39] >> Correct.
[2:29:41] Are you telling us that was there
[2:29:44] >> with with the current 600,000 getting
[2:29:47] added to it? Yes.
[2:29:48] >> We right now today.
[2:29:49] >> Yes.
[2:29:52] >> I have a I I
[2:29:55] have a hard time understanding how we
[2:29:58] got to that. Right. Because our budget
[2:30:02] session
[2:30:05] was horrific in my opinion, right? And if we're if we have these fund
[2:30:14] balances,
[2:30:17] I need to understand
[2:30:19] if within that $5 million,
[2:30:24] is it being
[2:30:27] divided into a restricted fund?
[2:30:31] Is it being a general fund? Is that one
[2:30:36] amount being divided into these other
[2:30:38] buckets?
[2:30:39] >> The
[2:30:41] fund balance is for your general fund
[2:30:44] and then within
[2:30:46] your general fund
[2:30:49] you have different allowances of that
[2:30:51] fund balance. And so when the school
[2:30:53] committee has a policy that from their
[2:30:55] general fund they want have money set
[2:30:58] aside in case there's an emergency need
[2:31:02] that becomes what they consider
[2:31:05] restricted. You're putting it aside out
[2:31:08] of the 5 million specifically for this
[2:31:10] purpose.
[2:31:11] >> Okay.
[2:31:12] >> I just I just want to interject real
[2:31:13] quick because I don't think and correct
[2:31:14] me if I'm wrong. Look, I'm I'm not done
[2:31:18] because I'm still trying to understand
[2:31:21] if we had a 2%
[2:31:25] in our fund balance.
[2:31:30] Why were we like why weren't we able to
[2:31:33] use that to help us stay our home that
[2:31:38] our budget? I don't understand. Like I I
[2:31:41] just think
[2:31:43] >> I mean and I'm not blaming you. Not at
[2:31:45] all. I just don't understand how
[2:31:49] you could find it.
[2:31:52] But the person that was working on it
[2:31:54] couldn't find it. And if and also
[2:32:00] just to help me understand a little bit
[2:32:02] more
[2:32:04] you were consulting during the last
[2:32:09] couple of months or no
[2:32:11] >> the last couple of month I came on board
[2:32:13] I believe it was u end of May early June
[2:32:17] >> okay that was right after all of this
[2:32:20] you've started to dig this
[2:32:22] >> yes okay but I still have a hard time.
[2:32:26] >> Yeah. So, so
[2:32:28] >> so Paul, I think to your point that is
[2:32:30] part of the the the problem is that we
[2:32:32] were not aware we were not made fully
[2:32:35] aware of what we had available to us and
[2:32:37] we were not given good information
[2:32:39] during the budget process. Uh so that is
[2:32:43] I I share your frustrations. I think I I
[2:32:45] understand where you're coming from.
[2:32:46] It's it's it's frustrating.
[2:32:55] Yeah, I I just want I just want to
[2:32:57] clarify one thing because I've not seen
[2:32:59] this and correct me if I'm wrong if
[2:33:00] we've seen this before.
[2:33:02] >> I've not seen that 1.2 million referred
[2:33:04] to as a restricted fund. I don't think
[2:33:06] I've ever have Have we seen that on
[2:33:08] previous budgets and I just missed it
[2:33:10] because I know we had that like 1 to 2%
[2:33:12] rule
[2:33:13] >> and now you know Tonyy's kind of
[2:33:15] itemizing it out into that 1.2 million
[2:33:17] but I just want to clarify have we seen
[2:33:19] that on previous budgets? It has not
[2:33:21] been listed as a restricted fund. It's
[2:33:23] been listed as that 2% um recommended,
[2:33:26] >> but there was never a dollar amount
[2:33:28] associated with it because that because
[2:33:29] that's a new
[2:33:32] Okay. So, I was I just want to make sure
[2:33:34] I wasn't like losing my mind.
[2:33:37] It's been referred to as restricted in
[2:33:40] the past, but policy says that we have
[2:33:45] that 2%
[2:33:49] >> in in our um
[2:33:54] » policy only can a surplus
[2:33:58] because surplus the 2% is on any surplus
[2:34:03] that you have that would then ate that
[2:34:07] fund balance. Am I correct?
[2:34:10] >> That's my understanding of your policy
[2:34:12] which is the reason why it's not
[2:34:15] probably not been well communicated
[2:34:18] along the lines of those funds are for
[2:34:20] your operating budget after it gets
[2:34:22] approved if something big happens. So
[2:34:25] during budget conversations about what
[2:34:27] our school operation looks like
[2:34:30] >> is the first $2 million or million2 is a
[2:34:34] set aside out of the again I'm referring
[2:34:36] to the audit report and they actually
[2:34:38] have three classifications
[2:34:41] of dollars what they consider the
[2:34:44] unrestricted restricted and committed
[2:34:46] and so all of those cluster together
[2:34:49] generate you $4 million but it's all for
[2:34:52] the general fund and the underlying is
[2:34:54] what is it targeted why it's there and
[2:34:56] then bottom line is what's the remaining
[2:34:59] piece that's available conversation to
[2:35:01] include and that conversation had to
[2:35:03] have taken place because you have a line
[2:35:07] using a million3 to balance FY27 so that
[2:35:10] piece came forward at some point in time
[2:35:14] um and and it's interesting that the
[2:35:19] capital budget not getting presented
[2:35:22] andor adopted which relied on fund
[2:35:26] balance in prior years to go over into
[2:35:28] that general fund fund balance. Well, if
[2:35:31] you committed a million three, you may
[2:35:33] not have had enough to even have that
[2:35:34] conversation. So, that's why I'm trying
[2:35:36] to make it clearer. And I I think having
[2:35:38] last year's audit report is going to be
[2:35:39] really helpful because you'll know what
[2:35:41] our beginning is, how you got there,
[2:35:43] what happened over the years. You had
[2:35:45] good years where the expenses were down
[2:35:47] and the revenue was not as high. I mean,
[2:35:49] it was higher than what was budgeted.
[2:35:50] Maybe not as high as this current year,
[2:35:53] but those accumulations of dollars
[2:35:55] validated by the auditors. That's
[2:35:58] available. So, that's that's that's a
[2:35:59] given. We know that to be true. We know
[2:36:02] right now I can stand on these numbers.
[2:36:04] I know where these numbers came from. We
[2:36:05] know that 640 is going to it. So, I have
[2:36:07] a lot hard number to talk about. And
[2:36:10] then we can have that conversation about
[2:36:13] if 27 doesn't need a million3 because
[2:36:15] there's other revenue or expense cuts,
[2:36:17] then we'll get there. If it does need
[2:36:19] the 13 and you still need another
[2:36:20] million million and a half to do your
[2:36:22] capital projects for 27,
[2:36:25] we'll know what that number is that's
[2:36:26] available. So there won't be
[2:36:28] uncertainty. There'll be certainty of
[2:36:30] where it's coming from. And I'll make
[2:36:32] sure that's very well communicated.
[2:36:35] >> The main reason why the capital fund was
[2:36:36] not being acted on is because when we
[2:36:39] were going through the budget process
[2:36:41] last
[2:36:44] March, April, it feels like a year ago.
[2:36:46] It feels like yesterday we were we were
[2:36:49] operating as a board with the
[2:36:52] understanding that we were in a deficit.
[2:36:55] We were not operating in the
[2:36:56] understanding that we had a $1.7 million
[2:37:00] surplus. So when we were navigating with
[2:37:03] our town and working out over how much
[2:37:06] property tax transfer was going to come
[2:37:08] in and scrambling and having students
[2:37:13] lives disrupted significantly. And I
[2:37:15] want to acknowledge all of this because
[2:37:16] I feel like not you, but we are seem to
[2:37:19] be glossing over that this is a good
[2:37:21] problem to have now, but it also is a
[2:37:25] problem that we had that we are now
[2:37:27] addressing. But I also want to make sure
[2:37:30] that we're be excuse me, we're being
[2:37:31] transparent about that, that we're not
[2:37:33] trying to like pretend that didn't
[2:37:35] happen because that's what I feel like
[2:37:36] the moment, not you us. And I want to
[2:37:39] make sure that we are acknowledging that
[2:37:42] or I am at least acknowledging that and that we there it's a a bigger
[2:37:48] conversation in my opinion that we have
[2:37:50] to have with the town because this is
[2:37:52] not our money. This is our taxpayers
[2:37:54] money and we need to make sure that
[2:37:56] we're being forthcoming about where this
[2:37:59] surplus came from because in our last
[2:38:01] public meetings we did not have a
[2:38:02] surplus.
[2:38:04] We were working off a deficit. We ended
[2:38:06] up having some sort of a surplus. were
[2:38:08] able to make some things work, but there
[2:38:10] was a lot of turmoil and upheaval around
[2:38:13] it. And so, I think that's where a
[2:38:15] couple of us are a little confused why
[2:38:17] it was being presented as though
[2:38:21] that didn't happen. So, I just want to
[2:38:23] make sure that I get that clear for
[2:38:25] myself. And I just want to state for the
[2:38:27] record, I I am in agreement with you on that this is this we we did put the
[2:38:32] town through a a difficult budget
[2:38:33] process based on information that was
[2:38:36] unclear at the time that we had it and I
[2:38:40] know Mr. Crui is presenting to us as
[2:38:42] fact now since it's you know this is
[2:38:45] what it is but I don't think we can uh
[2:38:47] or nor should we ignore the fact that happened. We had that we had those
[2:38:52] contentious meetings and very uh
[2:38:54] difficult budget process. So we are
[2:38:58] where we are now and we do need to move
[2:38:59] forward but I don't think we can move
[2:39:00] forward without acknowledging that. So I
[2:39:03] don't I don't want to gloss over it
[2:39:04] either.
[2:39:05] >> And also you know just being
[2:39:09] with the public right now that we are
[2:39:13] acknowledging this information as you
[2:39:16] receive it. um
[2:39:20] you know to inv
[2:39:24] like Kate did. I agree with her when she
[2:39:27] says um we kind of lost sight of that
[2:39:31] and it may not have been it wasn't
[2:39:34] intentional at all. Not on our part
[2:39:37] anyway, but it happened. And so being
[2:39:41] aware of it now, uh we just need to make
[2:39:45] sure that while at this table when we're
[2:39:48] receiving this information that we are
[2:39:51] acknowledging it so that the people in
[2:39:54] the community, our town know that we're
[2:39:58] holding ourselves accountable,
[2:40:01] right?
[2:40:02] And I'll just And I'll say I think as a
[2:40:05] committee we we trusted
[2:40:08] our administration and certain
[2:40:10] individuals too. I I I think I think we
[2:40:13] need to take a look at ourselves and say
[2:40:15] we need to be more critical and more
[2:40:18] you know more aggressive in pushing for
[2:40:20] information going forward. Uh whether we
[2:40:22] trust the person or not I I I think you
[2:40:25] know to Mr. Gucci's point from earlier
[2:40:27] talking having November and February
[2:40:30] updates having this monthly where are we
[2:40:32] spending things where are things going
[2:40:34] those are going to really make
[2:40:36] everything a lot more transparent for us
[2:40:38] uh not only for the community at large
[2:40:40] but for us at the table I think that is
[2:40:42] something we we absolutely need to
[2:40:45] commit to going forward um to make sure
[2:40:47] we don't end up in a similar situation
[2:40:49] in the future. We want to make sure
[2:40:50] we're being as transparent as possible
[2:40:53] with the taxpayer dollars that we are
[2:40:55] stewards of and prevent things like
[2:40:58] this. You know, I I don't I don't want
[2:41:00] to go through this.
[2:41:01] >> I just want to say that I I want to
[2:41:04] piggy back on what Paula said. We were
[2:41:06] operating with the information we had as
[2:41:10] we obtained it. And even as late as July
[2:41:14] 28th,
[2:41:16] I specifically asked if we knew what the
[2:41:20] number was for the end of the year. And
[2:41:21] we were told told we had a small
[2:41:24] approximately $300,000
[2:41:26] surplus. And to find out just weeks
[2:41:29] later that it was 1.7 was
[2:41:33] astonishing.
[2:41:35] And and it's also very frustrating
[2:41:39] because we had put our community through
[2:41:42] a terrible budget
[2:41:44] season that we just didn't have to have
[2:41:47] if we had known the right numbers. So,
[2:41:50] we need to put reporting in place so
[2:41:54] that we do know the numbers are real
[2:41:57] that I mean, we trust what people tell
[2:41:59] us and we'll continue to trust people,
[2:42:01] but we need the reporting um to to
[2:42:04] actually see it and be on top of it
[2:42:06] ourselves. And I think that's why I I
[2:42:08] agree. We need to start meeting with the
[2:42:11] sub subcommittee. Um, and I do want to
[2:42:14] apologize
[2:42:16] to the town, our community for having
[2:42:20] this horrible budget cycle that wasn't
[2:42:23] needed, but we just didn't know, but we need to do better and have better
[2:42:30] information going forward.
[2:42:33] >> Agreed. and and I'm sorry I I would just
[2:42:36] want to make sure that you know it's not
[2:42:37] targeted at you because I think the
[2:42:39] pieces that you're putting into place
[2:42:40] and the information that you've been
[2:42:42] able to pull forward and these templates
[2:42:44] that you're putting forward for us to
[2:42:46] review on a monthly basis make sure that
[2:42:48] we have full knowledge um on a very
[2:42:53] granular level what we're navigating and
[2:42:56] then also we the town also will have it.
[2:42:59] So when we are having these budget
[2:43:01] conversations, everybody has the
[2:43:03] information, the actual information in
[2:43:05] front of them instead of just sort of
[2:43:08] hoping that what's being presented to us
[2:43:10] is accurate. So thank you. If I could
[2:43:13] just make one small comment, I know I've
[2:43:16] been speaking quite a bit. Um um
[2:43:20] starting what you just discussed and
[2:43:22] acknowledging it from your levels, I
[2:43:26] think provides a lot of credibility to
[2:43:28] the community.
[2:43:29] But also concurrent with that is a small
[2:43:34] example.
[2:43:35] Okay, if I have uh a purchase order for
[2:43:40] so many students going out of district
[2:43:42] that I put in in October and kids come
[2:43:44] and go and all of a sudden there's 15
[2:43:46] kids who are no longer going out of
[2:43:47] district because they decide to stay in
[2:43:50] town,
[2:43:51] the folks in the field who have the
[2:43:54] purchase order in the system
[2:43:57] have no real reason to call up the
[2:44:01] business office and say disencumber a
[2:44:04] half a million dollars in tuition
[2:44:05] because the students left. Okay. So, I
[2:44:09] get it. The the the leadership in your
[2:44:12] fiscal office is the is the primary
[2:44:14] cheerleader for everybody. It's not just
[2:44:17] the system breakdown of how they didn't
[2:44:19] know. If you've got we just put it in at
[2:44:22] the end of the year like in July, we can
[2:44:24] just close it because now we know we
[2:44:26] don't need it. Well, even when I got on
[2:44:29] board and I ran some early preliminary
[2:44:31] numbers because I was working on
[2:44:33] maintenance of effort for the community
[2:44:35] and I needed some of that data,
[2:44:38] I saw purchase orders on July 10th
[2:44:41] exceeding $1.2 million. And I'm like,
[2:44:44] could there be that many bills out in
[2:44:45] the system?
[2:44:47] So, if I'm reading the system reports
[2:44:50] and I'm seeing incumbrances owed for
[2:44:52] $1.2 2 million. Yes, I could come
[2:44:56] quickly to the same conclusion unless I
[2:44:58] do the detailed extraction of what line
[2:45:03] items are these impacting and who do I
[2:45:05] got to talk to to validate whether they
[2:45:07] need transportation busing, whether they
[2:45:09] have out of district students, is there
[2:45:11] some capital project that hasn't got to
[2:45:13] completion, um has it been delayed and
[2:45:16] it's going to happen next year. None of
[2:45:18] that's happening in the fields because
[2:45:20] there's not really a sense of urgency.
[2:45:24] Okay. By creating the year end process
[2:45:28] of November and February, the business
[2:45:31] office will be working with principles
[2:45:33] and leaders in the schools and the
[2:45:35] clerks in the schools. They'll start to
[2:45:37] understand
[2:45:38] how important it is if there's some
[2:45:41] material change in some of the purchase
[2:45:43] orders. Something as simple as
[2:45:45] facilities.
[2:45:47] The guy's got to go to the hardware
[2:45:48] store to pick up some pipe or a fixture
[2:45:51] to fix a sink. So, we got an open
[2:45:53] purchase order for that hardware store.
[2:45:55] Well, if we don't fix anything because
[2:45:57] nothing broke and there's a $25,000 one
[2:46:00] purchase order at one store times five
[2:46:03] stores, there's $125,000. We're all
[2:46:06] going to assume this bill's coming in
[2:46:07] and all of a sudden it evaporates
[2:46:09] because oh, we're not going and now
[2:46:11] we're buying the stuff in July and
[2:46:12] that's next fiscal year. So, give me a
[2:46:14] new PO for $25,000.
[2:46:16] only spent three and I've been telling
[2:46:17] everybody we're going to spend 25. So,
[2:46:19] you're setting the table is helping the
[2:46:23] rest of the district realize how
[2:46:25] important those nickels and dimes and
[2:46:28] tens of thousands of dollars that may be
[2:46:30] in the system that makes it more
[2:46:31] difficult. So, that when you have things
[2:46:34] that are outside of the scope, they'll
[2:46:36] pop to the top because we're always down
[2:46:39] to $50,000 at this time of the year and
[2:46:41] I got 275 still in there. How come? Oh,
[2:46:44] I got one purchase order for this
[2:46:46] particular issue. Yay or nay. Got a
[2:46:50] problem or it's going to happen in
[2:46:51] August. That's next year. Get rid of it
[2:46:53] out of the system. So really, thank you
[2:46:55] for providing that support to get how
[2:46:59] critical folks contribution is for those
[2:47:02] activities because that is what your
[2:47:04] cheerleader is going to do when they go
[2:47:05] on like here's what's going on. I got to
[2:47:07] do this. It's not just us. I mean me.
[2:47:10] It's us. It's a picture of us. we need
[2:47:12] to work together to create the right
[2:47:14] picture. So, thank you for your support
[2:47:15] for that.
[2:47:17] So, um, like my, um, colleagues at the
[2:47:22] table said, I'm very grateful for these
[2:47:25] figures that, um,
[2:47:29] that we're seeing now, but, um, as other
[2:47:34] members of the committee have said, we
[2:47:36] created a budget
[2:47:39] based on incorrect numbers
[2:47:43] and
[2:47:46] In my opinion,
[2:47:49] we created a lot of angst in the
[2:47:51] community with students, with families,
[2:47:55] with the town council, and that was
[2:47:58] unnecessary.
[2:48:00] So now we are presenting numbers
[2:48:07] that are accurate and um moving forward
[2:48:13] um we can we can see
[2:48:17] um how I mean we we've got to see some
[2:48:21] way how we can
[2:48:24] fix this. we, you know, I mean, other
[2:48:27] than apologizing to the community
[2:48:30] for based on the false figures,
[2:48:34] um, you know, I don't see what we can do, but the community needs
[2:48:41] to know that we're trying to write the
[2:48:45] ship.
[2:48:49] if if I may, um, for what it's worth, as
[2:48:52] superintendent of of the district and
[2:48:55] who, uh, put forward the budget
[2:48:57] proposals given the numbers there, um,
[2:49:02] and from day one talking about
[2:49:05] transparency, from day one talking about
[2:49:08] students first and that what we put
[2:49:12] forward was done with that with that in
[2:49:16] mind. We came here to build things, not
[2:49:19] take them apart. We're fully com
[2:49:23] committed to that. Um, and that apology
[2:49:27] to the the committee, to the students,
[2:49:30] to the town council, to the public whose
[2:49:33] budget meetings got turned upside down.
[2:49:38] on behalf of as superintendent, I
[2:49:41] apologize to the committee, apologize to
[2:49:43] the town council, and we'll look to do
[2:49:46] so in part next time uh that I'm there.
[2:49:49] Um I'd also though, you know, apologize
[2:49:53] not only to the students and the
[2:49:55] families who showed up, but every person
[2:49:59] for the past two years who is not with
[2:50:02] the organization anymore or was getting
[2:50:05] pinklip. I met with each and every one
[2:50:07] of those people. I looked at them. I
[2:50:10] said, "Family, I mean, this is your
[2:50:13] livelihood." And so, mo most importantly
[2:50:18] to me for people who are no longer with
[2:50:21] the district, um, there's an apology
[2:50:24] there.
[2:50:26] The most well, not the most, that is the
[2:50:29] most unfortunate part. Another
[2:50:31] unfortunate part here is that there are
[2:50:33] great things in here to celebrate.
[2:50:36] that had we been updating accurately and
[2:50:42] regularly, we could be celebrating an
[2:50:45] increase of revenue from students
[2:50:47] wanting to come to South Kingtown and
[2:50:49] coming to South Kingtown.
[2:50:51] that we have an amazing director of
[2:50:55] student services student and team there
[2:50:57] student service director of the year
[2:50:59] who's doing Medicaid billing and getting
[2:51:02] reimbursement and to make those
[2:51:04] adjustments and ultimately
[2:51:08] know ultimately to be here now I'm you
[2:51:11] know again I would be remiss if as the
[2:51:14] superintendent that I did not apologize
[2:51:18] um and promise to the community that it
[2:51:20] will not happen again. These things will
[2:51:23] be vetted. We will do better and we will
[2:51:26] uh keep building moving forward. Uh and
[2:51:31] by the I believe at our second meeting
[2:51:33] in September, I'm extremely confident in
[2:51:37] what Mr. Fucci will be able to present
[2:51:40] as a accurate, researched and validated
[2:51:45] FY27
[2:51:47] that and plan moving forward that this
[2:51:50] committee and the community uh will be
[2:51:53] proud of.
[2:51:55] >> Thank you.
[2:51:57] >> I think I think Oh,
[2:52:00] one thing I want to say is just you're
[2:52:03] right. There are things to celebrate in
[2:52:04] here and having increased revenue for
[2:52:06] Medicaid reimbursements and having
[2:52:07] increased revenue from students. But we
[2:52:10] can all see and I think this is a lesson
[2:52:12] we can all take home is that having that
[2:52:14] lack of transparency has turned what
[2:52:16] should be an objectively good thing that
[2:52:18] we have funding for the schools. We
[2:52:20] probably will be in a position to have a good conversation around FY28.
[2:52:26] It is has put a Paul on on that. Uh so a
[2:52:31] simple thing just not having the right
[2:52:34] information at the right time has turned
[2:52:37] what should be something good into
[2:52:38] something that we have to apologize for.
[2:52:41] It's so I think it's a lesson we can all
[2:52:43] take home that transparency is vital and
[2:52:46] important and and communication is key.
[2:52:52] » Yeah. I just want to thank everybody
[2:52:53] here for um
[2:52:57] the questions they raised tonight, but
[2:53:02] being conscious of how important this
[2:53:04] all is to the community. And I want to
[2:53:06] thank the superintendent
[2:53:08] for the words that you just said and and
[2:53:12] actually for the apology to our
[2:53:14] community. Um, I thank you for that. And
[2:53:18] I know that
[2:53:21] we've got some really encouraging things
[2:53:25] that we've learned, some really great
[2:53:28] numbers that we can celebrate, and now
[2:53:31] we just need to look at the 2027 budget,
[2:53:33] continue to do that work, and then we'll
[2:53:36] have a final idea of really what we're
[2:53:39] dealing with because I still don't we
[2:53:41] still don't have that piece. So, we're still in the middle of this and um
[2:53:47] so we'll be back to revisit this again.
[2:53:50] So, but thank you also Tony.
[2:53:56] All right. Um that will bring us to the
[2:53:58] next one. Discussion action capital
[2:54:00] improvement plan update fiscal year 2027
[2:54:04] and the impact on the five-year plan.
[2:54:07] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, on a
[2:54:10] hopefully a a seriously uptick note, um,
[2:54:14] last year I got involved with the
[2:54:16] five-year capital plan. And last year I
[2:54:19] took over a document that had five years
[2:54:21] of information and kept getting rolled
[2:54:24] forward with comments about, well, we're
[2:54:26] not funding, you know, we got to be next
[2:54:28] year needing five or six million dollars
[2:54:29] worth of work and the funding's not
[2:54:31] there and we just roll it. That turned
[2:54:34] into what can we afford and how do we
[2:54:36] make presentations. And so we did that
[2:54:37] last year and the superintendent and I
[2:54:39] met with the town manager and the
[2:54:41] finance director and we went through it
[2:54:42] and we had some very good conversations
[2:54:44] about it. The critical element being
[2:54:47] that we have a maintenance of effort
[2:54:49] issue with the state and if we don't
[2:54:50] meet those objectives then that state
[2:54:52] aid that comes to the community will be
[2:54:54] held back. And so with that as a
[2:54:57] backdraft, we presented a two-year plan
[2:55:00] with the budgets being about $2 million
[2:55:02] because we thought that might be
[2:55:04] fundable and then everything was pushed
[2:55:06] off. But myself in the transition in
[2:55:09] your facilities area, your leadership
[2:55:11] there, your history, how these numbers
[2:55:14] came about, what is this project that
[2:55:16] really talking about? When I go in
[2:55:18] there, it doesn't look like it's maybe
[2:55:20] it's been done. So there was a lot of
[2:55:21] uncertainty of even the validity of the
[2:55:23] projects because of the history of it.
[2:55:26] I'm happy to announce tonight that we're
[2:55:29] going through the same process because
[2:55:30] you do this every year. We've got a
[2:55:32] facilities director that came on board
[2:55:34] and he's been impressive so far. I'm
[2:55:36] really enjoying working with him. I
[2:55:39] think he's going to take the bull by the
[2:55:40] horns and and really make this district
[2:55:42] elevate its uh performance building base
[2:55:45] wise etc. But systematically with that
[2:55:49] conversation came up, what's the
[2:55:50] validity of the dollars of the projects?
[2:55:53] And so I talked with the superintendent
[2:55:54] and he and he has supported the idea
[2:55:57] rather than the finance director and the
[2:55:59] facilities director getting together and
[2:56:01] trying to come up with a five-year plan
[2:56:03] and all the impacts on the community,
[2:56:04] what the building needs are, and then
[2:56:05] trying to get that communication out
[2:56:07] what the funding is and blah blah blah. We took it to the next level.
[2:56:12] We created a community I mean excuse me
[2:56:15] a capital improvements administrative
[2:56:18] team responsible for making a
[2:56:20] recommendation and that team consists of
[2:56:23] the fiscal person. It consists of the
[2:56:26] facilities director but it also
[2:56:28] consisted of we need somebody who's got
[2:56:30] the academic needs of students involved.
[2:56:33] They also needed somebody who had at
[2:56:34] least some history. And most important
[2:56:37] from my seat was the validity of the
[2:56:41] data and how it was generated.
[2:56:44] I wanted to have members of the
[2:56:47] community join us from the town and I'm
[2:56:49] happy to announce that we in fact did
[2:56:52] create this team. This team has been
[2:56:54] meeting for the last three weeks. We
[2:56:57] took the report that the school
[2:57:00] committee adopted last year as our
[2:57:01] kickoff. We have in our hands a report
[2:57:05] created by the state that was sent to
[2:57:07] the district back in July of 2025
[2:57:10] for our middle school and the three
[2:57:12] elementary schools because of course the
[2:57:14] high schools being brand built brand
[2:57:15] new. We expect nothing to meet to be
[2:57:17] done in that at least the first two
[2:57:19] years anyway.
[2:57:20] Um, but we took that report and this the school committee's approved
[2:57:29] five-year plan
[2:57:31] and we met with John Ghoul, who is your
[2:57:33] intram facilities director last year,
[2:57:35] who's got some historical knowledge of
[2:57:37] the district. The two community members
[2:57:39] who joined us happened to be Mr. Mark
[2:57:42] Russo, I believe he's the DPW director,
[2:57:45] or facilities director for the town and
[2:57:47] the town finance director. And everybody
[2:57:49] came to our meetings every meeting and
[2:57:52] we started with what are these reports
[2:57:55] and how they're used and where do the
[2:57:58] data come from. And then we took the
[2:57:59] next step. I introduced that the state
[2:58:02] is paying housing aid based on plans
[2:58:05] that they've approved that they're
[2:58:07] willing to pay. One plan expired this
[2:58:10] past June. So anything after July 1st
[2:58:13] this going forward won't be reimbursed
[2:58:16] from that particular approval. We have
[2:58:18] one approval left that goes through
[2:58:21] December 2028.
[2:58:24] Okay. In order to get an approval from
[2:58:26] RIDE for this what they call memorandum
[2:58:29] of agreement takes about 18 months. So
[2:58:33] an application that goes in in September
[2:58:36] if it's considered to be moved along in
[2:58:39] rise estimation documents need to be
[2:58:41] submitted by the following February or
[2:58:43] March. We call that a stage two. and
[2:58:47] then they have eight months to make a
[2:58:48] decision. So that'll put them someplace
[2:58:51] after the initial September date. So now
[2:58:55] as a backdraft we go 5 years. 5 years
[2:58:58] will put us out to 2032.
[2:59:01] Government approval ends December 2028.
[2:59:05] Two years it's all we have.
[2:59:08] Okay. What happens in those future
[2:59:10] years? Everybody understands it.
[2:59:14] the t that the team's effort was to do a
[2:59:17] host of things. We're going to focus in
[2:59:19] on what's going to get completed in the
[2:59:21] next two years. What makes economic
[2:59:23] sense and what can the community
[2:59:25] support?
[2:59:26] What are we going to do for the next
[2:59:28] three years? And if this pushes us past
[2:59:31] December 2028, how are we prepared to
[2:59:34] make that application process work? And
[2:59:37] what's the timetable? The timetable is
[2:59:40] December of 2027.
[2:59:43] The application has to go in if you want
[2:59:46] to have a housing aid reimbursement in
[2:59:48] place after the next memorandum of
[2:59:51] agreement goes away.
[2:59:53] The following February 2028, we have to
[2:59:56] put in the stage two documents they
[2:59:59] request. They'll make a decision
[3:00:01] sometime in September, October of 2028
[3:00:05] that they'll give us an award effective
[3:00:07] January 1st, 2029. That's two months
[3:00:10] before the last sunset. So taking all of
[3:00:13] this information in, our team has gone
[3:00:16] through and we said, "Oh, these are
[3:00:19] projects are completed. These projects
[3:00:20] are not needed. This doesn't seem
[3:00:22] budgetarily to be accurate. We're going
[3:00:24] to do more research. What does the state
[3:00:26] say?" We triaged all of these pieces.
[3:00:29] We've come up with a roster for each of
[3:00:31] the four schools, the middle school and
[3:00:33] the three elementary schools. I thought
[3:00:36] it was critical, superintendent
[3:00:37] supported it, that we actually do
[3:00:39] building walks. We want to meet with the
[3:00:41] principal. We want their input as to
[3:00:44] what they think they need for student
[3:00:45] needs in their buildings. We're going to
[3:00:47] share with them what we're looking at
[3:00:49] projectwise.
[3:00:51] That's beginning tomorrow. We are going
[3:00:53] to Matunic and then we're heading up to
[3:00:55] Broad Rock. Friday we're going I West
[3:01:00] Kingston and then Peaceale.
[3:01:03] The team will be reconvening next week.
[3:01:07] the facilities director and I are going
[3:01:09] to be working on a capital improvement
[3:01:11] plan budget, excuse me, capital budget
[3:01:14] for 2027,
[3:01:16] and I'll have that for you by the end of
[3:01:18] September.
[3:01:20] It will target the things we have to
[3:01:23] accomplish by the end of June. We need a
[3:01:25] million dollars of projects completed
[3:01:28] every year as a minimum on top of the
[3:01:31] investment we're making in maintenance
[3:01:33] people and maintenance supplies, etc.
[3:01:36] and the debt interest payments that the
[3:01:38] town makes. That all gets added
[3:01:39] together. We have to provide 2% uh is it
[3:01:43] 2% of our operating budget. No, it's
[3:01:46] more than that. It's over $2 million. So
[3:01:49] maybe 4%. My calc's off top my head
[3:01:52] getting tired. Um but it's a little over
[3:01:55] $2 million a year. So a million of it
[3:01:58] has to be capital improvements.
[3:02:00] We need to get things done this year and
[3:02:03] we'll have that roster done. Next year,
[3:02:08] 2027.
[3:02:11] Um, actually 28 because it'll be June
[3:02:13] the 28th. Okay. We have the summer of
[3:02:17] 2027 to do major construction if we want
[3:02:21] reimbursement
[3:02:23] from the currently approved document
[3:02:25] with ride. Okay. So we we are going to
[3:02:28] present a 28 recommendation as well.
[3:02:31] Okay. June 2028 fiscal year closes. July
[3:02:36] 1st 2028 we have six months to do any
[3:02:40] major construction where we need
[3:02:42] reimbursement. We will have a plan for
[3:02:44] the summer of 2028 which puts us into
[3:02:47] 2029.
[3:02:49] But we'll get it done before Christmas.
[3:02:51] We'll have recommendations how to fund
[3:02:53] it. Our conversations with the town
[3:02:55] manager will absolutely be critical on the summer work for 2027
[3:03:02] and the summer work for 2028 because if
[3:03:04] we're going to be doing $2 million worth
[3:03:06] of roofs or $2 or $3 million worth of
[3:03:09] HVAC systems or anything else of that
[3:03:11] critical need, the size and scope of
[3:03:13] those projects require bid documents.
[3:03:16] You need your vendor to be appointed by
[3:03:19] April, if not sooner,
[3:03:23] because then they will have their trucks
[3:03:25] in our parking lot on June 15th saying,
[3:03:28] "When can we go to work?" Because we got
[3:03:30] to get the work done over the summer.
[3:03:31] So, those are the objectives that we'll
[3:03:34] be working on. Um,
[3:03:37] but I hope and so far it's been
[3:03:40] extremely cooperative and productive.
[3:03:43] the team we put together to validate the
[3:03:46] dollars,
[3:03:48] identify the source of the projects, and
[3:03:51] then the prioritization of those
[3:03:54] projects to meet the objectives of the
[3:03:56] community. And so in the budget cycle,
[3:03:58] I'll talk about the housing aid again
[3:04:00] coming in and the rather revenues that
[3:04:02] we may have available to fund them. But
[3:04:05] I can't thank the committee or the
[3:04:07] superintendent enough to take it to this
[3:04:10] next level of sophistication
[3:04:13] and creating your new 5-year plan
[3:04:17] recommendation because it is aligned
[3:04:20] with what ride will need for a
[3:04:22] submission in September. They won't
[3:04:25] accept just the finance director and
[3:04:27] with facilities director with the
[3:04:28] superintendent having a plan. They want
[3:04:31] to see community participation. We've
[3:04:33] got that. we're keeping people apprised
[3:04:35] of what's going on and we'll be able to
[3:04:37] speak to that and we've engaged our
[3:04:40] local community uh officials to join us
[3:04:42] and it's been extremely productive. So,
[3:04:44] I'm just really proud of the work this
[3:04:46] team is doing and I think the outcome is
[3:04:48] going to drive a lot of really good
[3:04:51] conversations for the community and I
[3:04:53] look forward to going over and working
[3:04:55] with the town manager and the town
[3:04:57] finance director in October to say we
[3:05:00] can cover this year. What are we going
[3:05:02] to do the summer of 28 and what are we
[3:05:04] going to do in the summer of 29? How do
[3:05:06] we get there? And if we can do 90% of
[3:05:09] the work, maybe we won't need an OA for
[3:05:13] more capital projects. If we can get the
[3:05:15] bulk of the things that are being
[3:05:16] identified done in those two years, we
[3:05:18] could be way way ahead of the game. If
[3:05:20] not, we'll know what our next layers of
[3:05:22] work are. So, I'm happy to answer
[3:05:25] questions, but I'm very excited about
[3:05:26] how the table's getting set for that
[3:05:28] future conversation. So, thank you.
[3:05:34] I don't have a question. Just to thank
[3:05:35] you for your enthusiasm, your
[3:05:37] proactivity on this. We have not seen
[3:05:39] that in years when it comes to this
[3:05:41] particular topic. Um, and so I
[3:05:45] appreciate what you've put together, the
[3:05:47] folks you've gathered trust, very highly
[3:05:50] trusted in our community, both on the
[3:05:53] town side and the school side. So, thank
[3:05:55] you um for this and I look forward to um
[3:05:58] what you present to us in September
[3:06:01] 2026,
[3:06:03] so next month.
[3:06:08] » I agree with Kate. I think it's great to
[3:06:11] collaborate with the town and bring in
[3:06:12] those two people that actually work for
[3:06:14] the town to be on the committee. I think
[3:06:17] that is going to go a long way to
[3:06:19] helping us work together to make our
[3:06:21] buildings better and improved. So, um,
[3:06:24] it just thank you for all this work. I'm
[3:06:27] really excited to see the plan that they
[3:06:38] that was just an update. So, that it's
[3:06:40] not an action. Um, just so you know, we
[3:06:44] we've decided to put discussion action
[3:06:46] because if there's something else that
[3:06:49] comes up that we want to act on, it
[3:06:53] allows us to just out of an abundance of um caution that we might have
[3:06:58] something. Um, so is there any other
[3:07:02] comments on that item on the capital for
[3:07:04] that plan?
[3:07:07] Okay, then we're going to move on to our
[3:07:10] last item, the discussion, school
[3:07:13] building committee uh status update of
[3:07:15] the new high school and athletic field
[3:07:17] stadium complex at Chris Corner.
[3:07:20] So, it's a talk about an exciting
[3:07:23] item. Um lot lots of exciting work going
[3:07:27] on next door. As we can see, the uh
[3:07:30] brick has started to go on the academic
[3:07:32] tower, which is it's it's funny because
[3:07:35] you're like, "Oh, it's brick going on a
[3:07:36] building," but it is exciting when you
[3:07:38] come up to your like, "Oh, it's starting
[3:07:40] to look like a school building." Um,
[3:07:42] instead of just a big steel building.
[3:07:44] Um, so continuous progress keeping us on
[3:07:48] time, continuing to demonstrate that we
[3:07:51] are under budget. Um,
[3:07:55] as far as Curtis Corner goes, there's
[3:07:57] been a slight delay with the demo of the
[3:08:00] Curtis Corner um, school itself, um,
[3:08:03] completely out of all of our, uh,
[3:08:06] spheres of influence and, uh, areas of
[3:08:09] control. We're waiting on Rhode Island
[3:08:11] Energy to disconnect our utility. And
[3:08:14] so, we cannot start demo until Rhode
[3:08:16] Island Energy does that. So, Rhode
[3:08:18] Island Energy is listening. You're
[3:08:19] delaying us and we need you to move. um
[3:08:22] because we can't move forward with demo
[3:08:25] until that happens. Um we have made a a
[3:08:29] plea to the town, you know, if if um our
[3:08:33] town manager or deputy manager or the
[3:08:35] town council has any connections that
[3:08:37] can assist there, that would be uh very
[3:08:40] much uh helpful. I know that um and you
[3:08:44] know in Rhode Island Energy's defense,
[3:08:45] they have a lot going on and they do
[3:08:47] have a kind of their a pack schedule for
[3:08:49] themselves, but that is that is the only
[3:08:51] holdup. It's not delaying any part of
[3:08:53] the project because the demo once it
[3:08:56] starts it will be quick and and easy
[3:08:57] over there. Um so we continue right
[3:09:00] along um with all of our kind of all of
[3:09:03] our steps that we're moving through. No
[3:09:06] real we we had a very short meeting on
[3:09:08] Thursday. Um no no major developments outside of just
[3:09:15] work is continuing as planned. Um, we do
[3:09:19] have a small committee of folks that
[3:09:21] have been pulled together for to start
[3:09:24] now developing the traffic flow for next
[3:09:28] school year. So, not starting um in two
[3:09:31] weeks, but in uh September of 27 because
[3:09:35] what's going to happen is when we
[3:09:38] transfer everybody over to the new
[3:09:40] building, this building will still
[3:09:43] exist. And this is and this is where
[3:09:46] traffic flow is supposed to go and
[3:09:47] parking is supposed to go. So we do have
[3:09:50] a team that's being pulled together
[3:09:52] includes town manager, includes the
[3:09:54] chief of police and um includes our
[3:09:56] administrative team um as to what the
[3:09:59] temporary traffic flow will be for the
[3:10:03] 26 27 uh excuse me 27 28 school year
[3:10:06] while this building gets demolished and
[3:10:09] the new parking lot and roadway um gets developed. So um we're trying to
[3:10:15] forward think all those things because
[3:10:17] as we know this school year is starting
[3:10:21] like what as two weeks from now. So time
[3:10:23] is going by like this and so we don't
[3:10:25] want to delay any important decisions.
[3:10:28] So we're trying to stay on top of
[3:10:29] anything that will uh maybe sneak up on
[3:10:32] us. Um so as far as this school year we
[3:10:36] still have we'll have this parking lot.
[3:10:37] Nothing will change for the traffic
[3:10:40] patterns um that started last year.
[3:10:42] it'll be the same traffic globe for for
[3:10:44] this year, but we do want to be
[3:10:46] proactive for next year. So, um I don't
[3:10:49] have really any other significant
[3:10:52] milestone updates other than we're just
[3:10:54] cruising along um as planned. Um but
[3:10:57] unless somebody has any specific
[3:10:58] questions uh for me or even for Michael
[3:11:01] on the on the topic.
[3:11:08] » Thank you. And uh so if there's nothing
[3:11:10] else then I will be happy to make a
[3:11:12] motion to adjurnn.
[3:11:16] » All those in favor I
[3:11:18] >> that motion passes.
[3:11:22] We are adjourned at 8:05.